Introspection of Love
by Imp's Quill
Summary: Takes place 2 1/2 years after series finale. Katara is struggling with a major decision in regards to her future. She will need to look within herself to find the answer. Brief Kataang,Zutara.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Fan Fiction. Please Review constructively and please no hate. I will return the favor.

I do not own any characters or rights for Avatar: The Last Airbender

Introspection is defined as - a reflective looking inward **:** an examination of one's own thoughts and feelings - according to Merriam-Webster online, just in case you were wondering.

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Katara sat outside staring into the fountain. She was bending the water to form small whirlpool as she moved her finger in a circle above the water. Sighing, she let the water settle back in the fountain, looking around the inner part of the city of Ba Sing Se. Hearing a person grumbling coming up the path behind her, she turned and saw a young woman stomping toward her.

The younger woman was grumbling and muttering to herself, small mounds of earth raising up in front of her path from the force of her stomping before she stomped them back down again when she walked over them.

"Toph…?" Katara asked curiously

Toph stopped and turned her blind glare upon Katara. "Has anyone ever told you how annoying your boyfriend can be?" she ground out

Katara sighed, "He didn't go for it I guess?" Hoping to herself that she was wrong.

"No!" Toph plopped down upon the ground hard. " Ba Sing Se is sooo boring! All I want to do is go out and have a little adventure like we used to. Not to mention I have got to get out of here … my mother is starting to hint at me getting married." she ground out

"Yeah, I sorta know how you feel" Katara sighed to herself. Everybody had been asking when she was going to get married, she had even received a few marriage proposals from strangers along her travels with Aang. Even since she had turned 16 over a year ago it had been almost nonstop, she had grown into a beautiful young woman and she would often attract attention. Being Aang's girlfriend was the only way she had defended herself from the unwanted proposals and since Aang was still young that was excuse enough for why she was not married yet.

"You're lucky" Toph said to her, "You still get to go around and have adventures, traveling around, seeing the sights, meeting new people. I just get to sit here and help the Earth King delegate the rebuilding. Doing the same old boring thing every day" she grumbled.

"That is important Toph, there is still so much to do. I am sure that as soon as things get finished you can travel around with Aang and I." Katara said trying to soothe the younger girls feelings.

"If my parents haven't married me off by then" , Toph muttered wickedly.

Katara laughed, knowing that Toph would never allow that to happen without her consent.

The blind earthbender looked up at her with a grin. "Still…" she said "You are lucky. As the Avatar's girl you get to have so much fun."

"Yeah… sure… I guess." Katara replied sadly.

"Katara….." Toph began " You really should talk to him…" a look of concern crossing her face.

"I don't know Toph. I mean… it may be nothing more than just nerves. It's just because I'm nervous about the whole marriage idea, that's normal," trying to make herself believe it was true.

Toph glared at her, reminding her that she could tell when she was lying. It didn't help that Toph was the only person Katara had confided in about her fears of marrying Aang.

Katara sighed. She looked down at her feet. Trying hard not to think about her concerns.

"Hey." Katara said, kneeling down to touch Toph on the shoulder. " How about I go talk to Aang about taking you with him when takes the next group to starts rebuild the Eastern Air Temple? Maybe I can convince that you would better used there than here in Ba Sing Se. I know I could use a break from traveling around. I have not visited Sokka for a while"

"Really ! " Toph stood up quickly, "That would be great! You're the best, Sweetness!" she emphasized the last part with a quick punch to Katara's left arm.

"Ow..Toph!" Katara cried quickly . Rubbing her arm.

"Heh, sorry." Toph said with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Katara said with a glare. She paused in rubbing her arm and stared off into the distance, thinking about her future. She sighed dropping her head slightly.

"Katara." Toph said putting a hand on her shoulder, " If you were sure that is what you wanted you would be sure and you wouldn't be questioning yourself. "

"But Aang…" Katara started .

"It won't matter if you not happy." Toph butted in. Katara looked away from her and ground her teeth. This was the same conversation they had had before. She did't like the way it made her feel. Guilty. Angry. Cheated.

"It won't be long before he turns 16 Katara and then what? You won't have his age to hide behind anymore as an excuse to not get married. You really need to talk to _him_ about this."

Toph said.

" I'll see." Katara said hoping it would get the younger woman to leave her alone.

"Hmm…." Toph replied, knowing when she was not wanted around anymore. "Well, I'll see you around. Tell me what Twinkletoes thinks about your suggestion to take a _break." _and giving Katara a toothy grin as she walked off.

"Yeah okay" Katara said after her still lost in her own thoughts. After a few minutes she looked up and shouted "Hey!" but Toph was no longer around. She was left alone grimacing about the double meaning of Toph's last statement.


	2. Chapter 2

Katara leaned on pillar that looked down into the courtyard where Aang was doing some air bending tricks for the local children. It was a normal occurrence on the days when he had a meeting with the Earth King and the children had come to expect it when Aang was in town.

Smiling softly while watching Aang with the children she suddenly thought to herself that he would make a good father. But with that thought her smile disappeared leaving a grimace in its place. -Why?- she thought to herself looking away from the scene. -Why can't I love him like that? I know he deserves it.- It was the same argument that she had been having with herself for years it seemed. Ever since the time she realized that their relationship should have moved from the budding romance stage. She had tried so hard to make herself love him she way she thought he loved her. To see herself as more than just a girlfriend. To see herself as a lover, a wife, a mother of his children one day. But she could never seem to get past the first one. She tried to tell herself that it was just the age thing that one day he would be a handsome man and not the silly young boy now becoming a young man that she knew. But whenever she tried to envision her future with Aang it just wouldn't work. And worse, in her dreams another face would replace Aang's. That was almost too much to bear. Especially since she knew it was ridiculous, pointless even. He was just a friend and surely he would not feel the same way about her. It was just a stupid crush.

Her conversation with Toph earlier had only encouraged the bad thoughts in her head. -Why shouldn't she be happy- There was no sure way to know that she would be even if she left Aang, but was Toph right? Would it really not matter if she sacrificed her happiness for Aang's? Aang would be happy and she was sure that one day she would be too. Maybe... Hopefully…. She sighed to herself. She was so sure that being with Aang was her future after the war ended. Now she was not so sure. She hadn't been sure for a while. But there hadn't been a reason to worry herself about it before now. Now that things could really turn serious.

She was so lost in thought that she did not see Aang finish playing with the children, spot her waiting by the pillar and quickly run up the stairs. She did not notice him until he had pressed a quick kiss on her forehead. She blinked quickly to clear her head and looked at him. He was now the same height as her for the time being so it was easy to meet his gray sparkling eyes with her worried blue ones.

"Oh Katara, did you see the new air bending trick that I was showing the kids?" Aang asked excitedly, so caught up in his own happiness that he did not see the worry written on her face. Didn't see when she immediately replaced her worry with a small smile. "They were so excited! I've been working on it during my spare time. I think that when we go back to the Sorthern air temple I might show it to the other guys. Don't you think they would love it! "

"Umm, sure Aang. I'm sure they would." she replied quietly. Her forehead knotting in headache that was starting to form. She reached her fingers up to her temples to massage them. Not hearing what else Aang was saying as he continued his one-sided conversation about showing the newly found airbenders living in the rebuilt temple his new bending tricks.

Aang paused to take a breathe only to look at Katara and see that she was not listening to him. "Katara, are you listening to me? What's the matter?"

"Nothing Aang. I just have a headache, that's all. How did the meeting go with the Earth Kingdom Council?" Katara replied, dropping her hands.

"Oh, fine. Just the same old thing. Going over the rebuilding, dispersing troops because there is still some rebelling on the boarders, people not wanting trade with or trust the Fire Nation still. " Aang replied shrugging his shoulders. " Though Toph did approach me afterward and said something about wanting to do some traveling diplomatic work but I told her.."

"Yeah she told me." Katara cut him off in a sharper tone then she realized, looking off to the side.

"Oh" replied Aang quietly, shocked at the anger directed toward him. "Well, do you think I should?" he asked.

"Well, I do think that she deserves a break from Ba Sing Se and…" she paused gathering up the courage and started again in a rush "and I was thinking of maybe taking a break myself to go visit Sokka and Suki. It has been a while since I have seen them you know. Or just ..I don't know.. visit old friends or something. And Toph could take my normal position. I mean I know she is a great asset to the Earth Council but there are other good earth benders that could fill her position. And I really just need a little time away from all the traveling and council meetings." Katara took a breath and looked at Aang.

"Katara…if you want to go see Sokka that's fine. Why didn't you say something before?" he asked with a soft, concerned yet hurt expression.

Katara sat down on the top stair with a loud sigh and wrapped her arms around her knees. Aang quickly sat down beside her, " Katara? Katara, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't know." she replied, " I just don't know anymore, I thought I knew but I… I have been just so confused."

"About what?" Aang asked her gently.

" About You…Me… Us! I just… I just don't know anymore!" she shouted out in frustration, hot tears forming in her eyes.

"What….what do you me us, Katara? Aang asked, almost demanding in his tone of voice.

" I don't …I don't think I love you." she sobbed out. " I mean I do.. but I don't think I love you enough to marry you… and I don't know what to do anymore!"

" What?" Aang asked shocked, standing up quickly "But…but.." he stuttered out " I love you Katara! I don't understand what you mean? What are you saying? Are you saying….?" he stopped breathing hard.

"I think maybe we should break up" Katara said miserably.

"No!" Aang whispered angrily. " Aang, I'm sorry. I ….." started Katara, standing up beside him but not meeting his eyes.

"NO!" he shouted, interrupting her. " I can't talk about this right now! I just … I can't!" and with a angry thrust he opened his glider threw it into the air and leapt after it catching a hold of it and flying off.

Katara sank back to the stairs, the tears pouring down her face as she quietly cried into her lap.


	3. Chapter 3

Katara sat on the courtyard lawn of the house she and Aang were staying at in the Upper Ring. It was now dark as she sat idly petting Momo, who was sleeping in her lap. Aang had still not returned after their argument and she was not sure if she should be worried about him or not. Appa had not seem too concerned when she had fed him earlier that Aang had still not arrived back to the house, so she thought perhaps he was okay. This wasn't the first time that he had fled when things had gotten too much for him to think about and he had always come back before.

She had spent the remainder of the day thinking about what had happened. -It had all come out wrong- she grimaced thinking to herself. She had let her emotions control her again and had ended up saying all the wrong things. She hadn't really planned on saying anything at all but between Toph suggestions and Aang's rambling she had just lost it. Literally! She had never felt so lost. It was almost like she did not know who she was anymore.

But she knew now what she needed to do, or at least she hoped she did. It didn't matter how she felt, it mattered what was right. She would do the right thing, it was what she always did.

She heard him fly in the courtyard and land at the same time that Momo sat up, chattered, and ran in the direction he had landed.

"Hey, Momo." she heard him say softly, sadly. She kept her eyes on her hands that held in her lap, biting her lip hard to not cry.

Aang petted Momo for a moment and then walked over to were Appa was sleeping. Appa opened one eye to look at Aang and then promptly shut it again. Aang placed Momo on Appa's nose and said " Stay here buddy, okay?" Momo made a noise in reply.

She heard him walk over to where she was sitting, take a deep breath and then sat down quietly beside her.

"Aang," she began, still looking down at her hands" I am so sorry. I never…"

" How long? " he asked interrupting her

"What?" she asked, looking up at him in surprise.

He let out a sharp exhale of breath . "How long have you felt this way?" he asked looking into her face, still trying to control the hurt and rage that he had felt hours before.

"Umm,…well…" she began, her eyes darting to the side. " A while I guess… I mean…" she sighed in frustration, " I mean, I do love you but I don't think it is the way that you love me. I just don't think that I could ever really love you as anything more than a really good friend. I have tried so hard Aang, to make myself love you the way that you want but I.. just… I can't." she whispered that last part out. The tears starting to form in her eyes again .

Aang just sat still, watching her not saying anything. " I just .." she started again, unsure of herself " I just didn't know what to do about it anymore and I thought maybe if I talked to you about it…but…" she looked up at him a few tears escaping to make their way down her cheeks, " it just all came out wrong. I never meant to hurt you. I would never want to hurt you!" she emphasized with passion, her blue eyes a sea of turmoil.

Still he continued looking at her, his gray eyes seeming to stare into her soul. She could see that he was still angry but only just. She shifted onto her knees so that she could look at him without having to turn her head.

"Aang….we have never even gone beyond kissing. Haven't you ever wondered why? " she asked him almost angry now with his confused expression that he was now giving her. Silently he shook his head side to side, still looking at her.

For a moment her rage almost overtook her but she quickly turned her head away from him, breathing deeply to find the calm that she had just a moment ago.

"I haven't wanted to do more because I don't feel that way about you" she said through her teeth. She glanced over at him again. The hurt was obvious in his eyes the moment she said it. He finally tore his eyes away from her and looked off to the side

She sat back down on her feet with a slump and looked back at her hands. -She would do the right thing- she thought again to herself. Breathing deeply trying to calm herself to do what she knew she needed to do.

"But…" she began quietly " I would. If you wanted me to. I would." she said solemnly. " I know that you love me and that should be enough. You deserve to be happy and be with who you want and... maybe one day I could love you the same way in return." she looked up at him an unreadable expression in her eyes.

He meet her gaze his own. His eyes held confused hope, " You would do that?" he asked " Even if you weren't happy you would do that for me? You would give up being happy with someone else just to make me happy?" he probed her to answer further.

"Yes." she replied harshly back, almost too quickly. " You of all people deserve to be happy. You're the Avatar! You risked your life to save the world for us. I would do whatever you wanted to make you happy. I would stay with you. I would marry you. Have your children if that is what you wanted. I may not love you the way you love me but I do love you enough to make sure you are happy. I would never want to hurt you , Aang. And I know that leaving you would hurt you so I won't. I will stay because you deserve it."

She stared into his eyes, keeping her expression unreadable. Her mind was set, she had resolved herself to do what she felt was right, even at her own expense. He had saved the world after all, what would it matter if she was unhappy as long as the Avatar was. He loved her and that would be enough to make her happy, she attempted to convince herself once again.

He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. His eyes staring deep into hers as if trying to read her mind. To see if her words held truth. A whirlwind of emotions crossed through him and they were reflected in his eyes for Katara to see. First hope, then joy, then confusion and finally an emotion that Katara did not expect at all. Anger. Anger flashed in his eyes quickly before he tore his eyes away from hers.

"No." he said firmly. His eyes looked back into her shocked blue ones. A question forming in her eyes and upon her lips. " No." he said again, making sure she heard him this time. " I won't ask that of you. I can't. As much as I love you and as much as there is a part of me that wants you to stay with me no matter the cost to yourself, I can't let you. I want you to stay with me because you felt the same way about me, not because you think that you are some prize to be had." he stood up quickly the anger rolling off of him " Not just because you think that I deserved you." he spat the last part out with venom. She stood up next to him still not understanding what had happened.

" I can't believe you would do that to yourself Katara!" he practically yelled at her. "Do you think so little of your own happiness that you would give it up just to please someone else!" he glared at her.

She stared at him. Feeling even more confused than she had earlier that day. " But I…" she began, her lower lip quivering in helplessness.

"No Katara!" he stopped her, " As much as you say you love me enough to stay with me for as long as it makes me happy, I love you enough not to let you! I would never want you to do that for me. Never!" he snapped out. " You deserve to be happy too! And do you really think that it would make me happy knowing that you only stayed with me out of devotion, out of unwillingness to break my heart, because you think I _deserved_ it?" he glared at her.

"I didn't think you would care." she stated quietly, looking down at her feet. Starting to feel ashamed of herself.

"Oh Katara…" Aang groaned, quickly sitting on the ground cradling his head in his hands as if in pain. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. " Do you really think that I am that selfish?" he looked up at her sadly.

She slowly knelt down across from him. " Aang, I… " she sighed "yes… and no. I wasn't really sure what you would think…I mean there are times when you….uh…" she stopped unsure of what to say, not wanting to hurt his feelings further.

He stared at her for moment as if guessing what she was trying to say and then his brow furrowed in contemplation. He began to speak again, " I know I can be selfish at times. But I am learning to deal with it. And…even though I want you, I can't ask you to not be you. I mean I thought it was destined, you were the girl who found me after a hundred years of being in the iceberg, the girl who practically brought me back from the dead . Yes, there was small part of me hoping that if I saved the world you would love me the way I love you but it was the brave, strong-willed water bender that I fell in love with. And yes" he sighed "perhaps it was just a crush when it started but I thought it was more…I still do….but I see now that with me you are not happy." He sighed sadly, " Not as my girlfriend at least. As my friend you were but as my girlfriend you are someone different. Someone willing to give up their dreams for the sake of keeping me happy. Someone willing to let my needs dictate your life. I guess in a way that is how I always saw you because you were always there but I see now that that is not who you are or what you want ."

"I was stupid and selfish, yes, not to realize that something was wrong before now. I wasn't paying attention to you really, I was to busy being happy that I had gotten everything that I wanted. As the Avatar it is my job to pay attention to the needs of others and I failed you in that. But you Katara, I can't believe that you let me. Why did you not let me know sooner?" he glanced at her accusingly.

"Because I knew you would react the way you did earlier" she stated simply on the verge of shouting back at him, " and it was not such big deal until now. Now that you will be turning 16 soon and everyone will expecting us too.." she stopped. " Why are you so angry with me? I thought you would be happy?" glaring back at him " I was giving you everything you wanted!

They sat glaring at each other for few moments. Finally Aang spoke, sighing heavily " I think you are right Katara. We should break up." She gaped at him. "I know I love you but I really don't know how much I do. I never really stopped to think about it. Or the future. But I do love you enough to see that right now you could never be happy with me. Not fully. Not the way that you deserve. Not the way that you need." he said to her solemnly.

She stared at him dumbfounded, confused and even a little hurt. He looked into her eyes a little longer as if trying to imprint her face into his memory as tears formed in his gray eyes turning them into the color of molten silver. Quickly he pulled her into his arms and hugged her fiercely. He pulled away slightly then he leaned down and kissed her lips fiercely yet gently, stealing one last kiss from her. She allowed him and took one for herself. He pulled back and leaned his forehead on hers, the tears pouring from his eyes as they meet her tear filled ones "I love you Katara. I will always love you. And I will always be your friend….it just might take me a while to get back to that" he said sadly.

"Oh, Aang" she sobbed out.

His mouth moved up and pressed a hard kiss to her forehead, " Find you again. Make yourself happy. And don't sacrifice yourself, _you _deserve more than that." he whispered hotly against her forehead.

Then he released her walked over to Appa and whispered into his ear. The sky bison woke up and got to his feet as Aang went inside the house. Appa walked over the Katara, grumbled softly at he and then licked her. Katara laughed sadly and said " Goodbye to you too, Appa." Momo jumped down from Appa's back and landed on Katara's shoulder chattering sadly to her. "I know Momo, I will miss you too but I'll see you later sometime." she said rubbing him between his ears. She smiled at the animals and then suddenly a sob escaped her throat. She threw her arms around Appa's muzzle and sobbed loudly against it.

When she had finished crying she looked up to see Aang wanting a few feet away with his traveling pack, quietly watching the scene. Appa roared and then turned to make his way towards Aang, who jumped up to land lightly onto the sky bison's head. Aang looked down at Katara, who was looking up at him. She gave him a small sad smile and raised her hand slightly to wave goodbye. He nodded back at her, then looked down at Appa and said "Yip, Yip". Up Appa went into the air, hovering over the courtyard briefly before turning to head away from the building. Katara looked at the flying lemur who was still sitting on her shoulder and said " Go on Momo." With one last chatter to her he leapt off her shoulder, circled her head a few times and then flew off after Appa and Aang.

Katara stood there until they disappeared completely into the darkness, then she slowly walked into the house and laid down on her bed. She spent the night staring at the ceiling, tears of confusion slowly rolling down her cheeks as she tried to make sense of what just happened.

* * *

Since I am possibly foreseeing any OOC questions, I will simply say just wait until the next chapter and it might be explained a little further. IMO it really isn't. Just give me a couple of days to finish the next one up and then we will get to the Fire Nation.


	4. Chapter 4

Katara sat at a table in Iroh's tea shop staring into the cup of tea he had given her. "Some nice calming Jasmine tea" he had told her with an odd smile upon his face, as if remembering something fondly. She was feeling a torrent of emotions. Relieved that _it, _her romantic relationship with Aang, was finally over. She didn't have to hide her true feelings any longer or force herself to feel something that she couldn't. She was still shocked that it had been Aang who finally done what she could not find the strength to go through with. This was what she had been wanting but she was afraid because she did not know what to do now, her whole life had revolved around taking care of Aang for the past 3 ½ years, in a way it was all she knew.

The only reason she had even moved from her bed that morning was because of the obnoxious banging on her door accompanied by the loud bellow to be let in of a certain blind earthbender. She could almost see the scene play in front of her as she stared into the tea.

~~~"Open the door now or I'll just bend it out of my way!" shouted Toph and as she pounded a fist on the door.

"Okay, okay, give me a moment!" Katara replied back at the same volume. She dragged herself off the bed and shuffled across the floor, grumbling to herself. With force she yanked open the front door to glare down at the cause of her annoyance, who then pushed her way past Katara to stomp into the main room.

"Okay, spill Sugar Queen!" Toph said to her, spinning around to look in Katara's direction putting her hands on her hips.

"About what, exactly?" Katara mumbled dryly in reply.

Toph glared toward her, "About Twinkle Toes showing up on my doorstep whining about you leaving him and how he needs me to go with him to rebuild the Eastern Air Temple now since you won't go with him."

Katara's mouth dropped open as she looked at Toph. " He didn't really say it like that did he?" she asked in shock " Toph? Well…? Did he?" demanding an answer from the other girl.

Toph grinned mischievously back at her, " Nah…" Then she paused and preceded to make a great show of remembering the previous conversation, scratching her chin. "Well…." she started her blind eyes looking to the side in thought "not exactly like that…but that was basically how I understood it." she finished shrugging her shoulders.

Katara rolled her eyes and stalked over to the ornate couch in the middle of the room. She sat down on it hard and crossed her arms glaring at Toph. Toph followed her and said with a little laugh, " Gee, Katara I didn't know you really had it in you"

"I didn't." Katara muttered in reply.

"Whadda you mean?" Toph asked, her smile disappearing as she stopped to stand right in front of Katara.

Katara groaned in aggravation, turning her head away from Toph. " I sorta mentioned breaking up to begin with but he got mad and flew off, and when he came back I told him to basically forget it because I wanted him to be happy."

"Katara, you didn't!" Toph gasped at her, " Why? Why would you do that?"

"I don't know" Katara replied throwing her hands up in disgust.

"So…then what did happen?" Toph asked cautiously.

"He told me he didn't want me stay with him just to make him happy and then agreed with me about breaking up." she sighed out. Toph just stared at her in shocked silence. " He told me to go find myself…" she trailed off, lost in thought again.

Toph blinked her eyes a few times and then a silly smile crossed her face. " Well, whadda ya know." she said. " One minute you think you know the guy and then the next he pulls something like that. There might be hope for him yet."

" What do you mean?" Katara asked her, turning to look at the other girl.

"Nothin" Toph said quickly, " I don't really mean anything by it… I… uh.. it just came out." shrugging her shoulders again, a small blush stealing across her face that she tried to hide by looking down.

Katara stared at her for a moment trying to understand what Toph could possibly be thinking. Then figuring it was impossible to really understand the inner workings of her friend she shrugged it off. Her mind drifted off to the last thing that Aang had said to her. " What do you think he meant?" she asked out loud.

" Huh? " Toph said in reply, not sure what Katara was asking.

" Aang" Katara continued, "He told me to find me again and to make myself happy. What do you think he meant?"

Toph stared at her like she had suddenly grown three heads. " Your kidding right?" she finally asked. Katara just stared at her friend not understanding Toph's confusion.

Toph took Katara's silence as a no. " Geez, Katara. I have told you before you're not our mother. I know that it was the role you took on while we are all traveling around trying to save to the world and all but it is really time for it to stop. You need to find something else that makes you happy besides taking care of everybody. You can't be a mother to your next boyfriend, you already know how that worked out."

"But-" Katara attempted to interject.

"No buts" Toph said interrupting her, " that's not how it works. You need someone who is your equal, who sees you that way too. Who will push you just as much as you push them. Someone who will balance you out"

"Oh, like you would know" Katara muttered under her breath.

Toph stopped and glared toward her "Look here, Sweetness. I may not have all the _boyfriend _experience you have-" Katara gasped in outrage "-but I do know how to _listen_. And from what I've heard being a man's babysitter for the rest of his life is not going to make a very good relationship." she finished looking pointedly at Katara

Katara thought about Toph's words for a moment. " But what if I like taking care of people or helping them?" she asked.

"Fine. Then become a healer or a teacher or .. I don't know.. a council woman or a governor or something. But you don't need to be anyone's mother but your own kids'." Toph said back to her. Katara stared at Toph mulling over what the other girl had just told her.

"I guess your right, Toph." she said quietly. " Of course I am!" replied Toph. Katara meet Toph's wide grin with a small smile of her own.

"So…." began Toph " would you mind if I went with Aang to the Eastern Air Temple? I really, really would like to get out of this city you know."

"No Toph, of course not" Katara told her honestly. " I am planning to go visit Sokka and maybe a few other people anyway and I know that Aang will appreciate having a friend around after all this."

"Great!" replied Toph happily. " Well I guess I better be leaving then."

"Now?" asked Katara surprised.

" Uh.. yeah.. Aang kinda wanted to head out earlier but I told him I needed to talk to you…and I know that he wanted to get going soon so uh….yeah" Toph said scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"Oh…okay." Katara said, feeling a little disappointed that Toph was leaving so soon . She walked with Toph back to the door and said her goodbyes to her friend. Toph gave her a quick punch in the arm for love before walking off, which caused Katara to yelp and glare after her for it. She stood in her doorway for a bit, unsure of what she wanted to do now. She made up her mind that she would just go walking for a bit and with that thought she started down the path. She had found herself at the end of her walk standing in the doorway of the Jasmine Dragon. ~~~

She looked up from the tea that she had been staring into and saw Iroh walking back over to where she was sitting. He sat down across from her, " I see you have not drank your tea. Is it not to your liking Katara?"

"No, it is fine. I was just distracted." she said, smiling to reassure him then lifted the cup to her mouth and took a sip. It was cold. She quickly put the cup down, grimacing at the taste of cold tea.

Iroh chuckled softly at her, " Would you like me to warm it for you?" he asked gently. She gave him an embarrassed smile and then nodded her head. He picked up her cup, placed it in both hands and warmed the cup for her. Once he thought it was sufficiently warm enough he set the cup back down in front of her "Forgive me Katara, but you don't seem to be yourself today. Would you want to tell an old man your troubles?" She gave him a sad smile, sighed and then proceeded to tell him everything that had happened in the last day.

Iroh listened to Katara with interest. He had always liked the young Avatar but he felt that he had a few more years before he was ready for a true relationship. Aang no doubt had his moments of wisdom and maturity but he was still prone to being a little too childish and selfish at times. He would need to take some time to look within himself before he was truly ready to take on a mature relationship. And it seemed Katara would need to do some of that for herself, as well.

When she had finished telling him what Toph had told her earlier he looked at her for a moment and then smiled. "Love is like making tea, it takes many trials and error. If the water is too hot it burns the leaves and the tea will lose its flavor, too cold and the flavor will be diluted. Steep the tea too long and it runs the risking of being bitter, to short and it is weak. But if the water is just right and with the right amount of patient persistence while steeping you can make a great cup of tea." he said to her. " Love is all about balance and respect. Even within yourself. Young Toph was correct in saying what she did. It won't hurt to take some time to get to know who you are and what makes you happy."

"I guess not. It just seems so frightening, to start something new, to change from what I am used too." Katara replied after a while.

"Change always is," Iroh told her simply " it is easier to ignore change and stay with what we feel is comfortable even if it is wrong. It does require work and strength of self. But with change comes great new beginnings. That is something that my nephew would understand." he finished with a smile.

She nodded, " Yes, I guess he would." she paused thinking. "Maybe after I go to visit Sokka I could go see Zuko and talk to him. It has been a while since I have seen him."

Iroh sighed, "Yes, being the Fire Lord is a very demanding job. It would do him some good to take a break every now and then but he has always been stubborn."

Katara grinned at that thought. - Yes, he was stubborn - she thought to herself.

"Do you mind if I were to borrow your messenger hawk to send a message to Kyoshi Island for Sokka?" she asked Iroh.

" No, of course not." he replied he said rising from his seat.

" Thanks!" she said, " Oh and Iroh…thank you for talking with me. It… it really helped."

He smiled at her, "It is always a pleasure, Katara." Iroh said before walking off to get what she needed to send her message.

Katara remained sitting at the table contemplating on what to write in her letter to Sokka.

* * *

**AN: **Thank you for all the reviews. I am glad that you all are enjoying it thus far.

I have always liked Aang and I had no desire to turn him into the bad guy in this. I tried to keep him the way that he was in the show IMO. He may be the wise monk and Avatar but he is still young and capable of being childish at times. Considering that most of the other Avatars were 16 before they were told and took years to master the other elements they had time to mature within themselves more before they started any romantic relationships.

As far Katara, I know some might think she was being a little stupid and overly selfless concerning the breakup, but that was the way that she always was to me. She to me represents most women in this sense. We may be strong-willed but we can also be very good at deluding ourselves into thinking what we are doing is right. Even if it hurts us in the process, even if it is something we know is not right and there is better. I know several women, myself included, that have stuck it out in a dead end relationship simply for the fear of not wanting to hurt the other person and/or for being afraid of not finding someone else that might loves us just as much and ending up alone.

Iroh by far has got to be the hardest to write for me simply because it takes a bit to think about how he would say something with his cryptic self, lol.

And just FYI, invest (to use, give or devote time, money, etc. for a goal) is a synonym for steep (to let soak), if that gives a hint of where I was going with it.


	5. Chapter 5

Katara sat by the same fountain that she had been at two weeks before when she had talked to Toph about Aang. She had finally gotten a response from Sokka, the messenger hawk arriving just that morning. She had eagerly opened it wanting to see what her brother had to say and if he would be free for her to visit.

_Dear Katara,_

_Sorry to hear about what happened with you and Aang. I guess I can't say that I am surprised but at the same time I had hoped things would work out better for your sake. I think what Toph and Iroh told you is really good advice. I think Toph is really right about the whole equal thing. I know that Suki has taught me a lot about that and if I ever forget it she is quick to remind me. _

_It has been too long since I have seen you and I know that Suki would love to see you too. But right now is not the greatest time. I just back from helping Dad lead a hunting expedition and Suki has been training a new group of Kyoshi warriors. So since we have not seen each in a while we had planned to take trip together. Just the two of us. _

_I really don't know when we will be back. So, I would feel bad if I told you to come visit now if I didn't know when we would be back. I am really sorry. I guess if you wanted you could go see Gran Gran but last I heard she and Pakku were heading up to the North Pole to visit. I think that Dad might be going up with them for a meeting with Chief Arnook. _

_I really wish I could be of more help but I know that you will figure it all out. _

_Take care, _

_Your Big Brother Sokka , oh and Suki too!_

Katara read through the letter twice trying to make sure that she had read it right. Then she sighed - well, great- she thought to herself as her shoulders drooped in disappointment. She sat there for a moment and then picked herself up and marched to the Jasmine Dragon. When she got there she spied Iroh in the corner finishing up a game of Pai Sho with one of his regulars. She walked over to his table and sat down on the chair next to him.

He looked up and saw her sitting there looking dejected. "Something is bothering you, Katara?" he asked, picking up the reminder of the Pai Sho pieces.

"I finally heard back from Sokka, " she replied.

He looked up at her, " I take it you did not get good news?"

She shook her head no in response. She sighed, "He and Suki are doing some sort of romantic getaway and he doesn't know when they will be back. So I really don't know what I am going to do now. I am starting to understand how Toph felt about being bored."

Iroh chuckled at her, " I guess at my age being bored is a pleasure."

She looked up and gave a little smile back at him. " I have already spent a lot of time at the university just reading at the library, walked all over the city till my legs ache, worked on my waterbending, even helped train some of the army recruits, spent time talking with King Kuei about things that are going on in the Earth kingdom over tea, and I have spent so much time at the Ba Sing Se Zoo that I think the animals are starting to get tired of seeing me." she said with another sigh, " I am running out of ideas and with Toph gone, Sokka busy, and Gran Gran and Dad supposedly visiting the Northern Water Tribe I really don't know what else to do." She put her arms on the table and placed her chin on them, huffing loudly in aggravation.

Iroh watched her for a moment, thinking to himself. " Well, I might have an idea." he said. She looked up at him with her eyes, curious about his idea. He leaned in to look at her closely and said in a conspiratorial tone " Well…. you said that it had been a while since you had seen Zuko and I have not seen him in a while myself. It would be nice to take a break from the shop for a bit and visit my homeland for a bit. And perhaps you and I together could convince the Fire Lord to take a much needed break."

She stared at him for a moment before pulling her head up and cocking it to the side. " You don't think it would be a bother to him?" she asked.

Iroh shrugged his shoulders, " Perhaps… but that will be part of the fun of taking a break, don't you think?" He stood up from the table and walked away to get some more tea.

She sat at the table still hunched over her arms, thinking about what he had suggested. Suddenly she sat up and spun around to look in the direction he had walked. " You know what? Let's do it. Who knows, maybe it will be fun?" she shouted out after him, startling a few patrons in the process.

"So then it is decided!" he said, coming back into the main room, with a grin upon his face. She grinned back at him and together they planned their trip to the Fire Nation.

* * *

Katara stood leaning on the side of the ship staring out over the ocean. It had been since before the war had ended that she had been on a ship sailing into the Fire Nation and being on one now brought back memories of that time. She sighed deeply, looking down into the churning water. Iroh walked up beside and coughed lightly, so not to startle her too much but to make her aware that he was there. She looked up at him and smiled softly. He smiled back and then placed his hands behind his back, looking out over the ocean as well.

"I never thought I would be happy to see the ocean again after traveling all those years with Zuko, but surprisingly I find that I missed it." he said, after a while.

Katara smirked, " Was it the company that turned you off of it?" she asked.

Iroh chuckled deeply, " It is amazing the way that time changes a person." he stated.

"Yes, I guess it is" she said back to him, her mind wondering back to the past.

"How do we know if we are following our destiny?" she asked. He turned to look at her quizzically. "Well, back when I was traveling with Aang before we ever made it to the North Pole, we had stopped at a town that had a fortune teller." she told him.

"Yes…" he replied with a smile, "I think I remember her."

She nodded at him, " Well, she had told me that I would marry a powerful bender…and… I guess in a way I always thought she meant Aang. I guess that is why I just couldn't understand why I couldn't feel more for him and why I kept trying to push myself." She looked up at him, a confused look upon her face.

"Destiny is what we make of it, Katara." he told her. "Destiny gives us multiple paths and it is up to us to choose which ones to follow. Aang may be a powerful bender but he is not the only powerful bender in the world." He looked pointedly at her. She gave him a tight smile and nodded in agreement of his statement. He placed a hand on her shoulder gently. After a moment longer he said " Now. I believe that there is still a game of Pai Sho that needs to be played. I still need to teach you how to beat my Nephew." She laughed in response and went with him below decks.

* * *

Iroh and Katara both stood on the upper deck of the ship watching as the Fire Nation Capital crept closer. Iroh was grinning at the sight, he was looking forward to seeing his nephew and seeing what he had accomplished in his years as Fire Lord.

Katara on the other hand was nervous. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Zuko until the island came into in view. They had been such good friends and then it had suddenly just become awkward. She still didn't know who started to avoid who but it had happened regardless. She wondered if Zuko had missed her as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Zuko sat at the desk reading over some reports that had been sent from his generals. He looked up from them briefly when he heard a knock on the door. One of his guards slide the door open and bowed.

"Fire Lord Zuko, there is a delegate from the Avatar hear to see you." said the guard.

Wondering to himself why Aang would send someone without notice, Zuko nodded to the guard to allow the guest in. He returned to reading the reports. He heard the door slide open again and the guard gesture the guest into the room. The door closed.

"Hello, Zuko." a warm feminine voice said.

"Katara!" Surprised Zuko dropped the report in his hands and quickly looked up.

He looked even more handsome than she remembered. His hair was longer, the crown of the Fire Lord shining upon his top knot. It was strange that his scar no longer looked so shocking but almost endearing to her.

He stared at her. It had been some time since he had last seen her and the rest of the group. There had always been the various Council of Nations' meetings but there had been few times that they had all been able to get together without the burden of meetings . He always enjoyed getting to see his friends and Katara in particular. They had become very close since the day they fought Azula, often spending hours just talking away from the rest of the group whenever they got together. But recently things had seemed to be a little more uncomfortable between the two of them, which was why he had not really made time to see the rest of the group. She was even prettier than she was when she was younger, a fact that he was painfully aware of.

She had a curious smile on her face, one that seemed joyful but full of wariness. He made to stand up but she quickly held up a hand and sat down on the chair across from him.

"So…" he began a little nervously "How are things going with Aang?"

"Aang is… well. He has been busy rebuilding the Air Temples. He found some refugees who seem to be descended from some Air Nomads that escaped the raids and is slowly teaching them airbending. They seem to be quite eager students who are ready to learn about their heritage and help rebuild the temples."

"That is good to hear! Nice to know my ancestors did not entirely wipe out the Air Nomads." Zuko said with some passion. " I was just finishing some reports from my generals who were saying that it seems some of the smaller Earth Kingdom cities are finally starting to be what they once where. Aside from some minor scuffles and prejudices still remaining from the war " he ground out " things seem to be getting better."

"Yes." Katara's eyes darted to the wall, the floor, anywhere but at him. She seemed nervous. Why would she be nervous, Zuko thought looking at her. " So.. it has been a while since I have seen you … How are you doing?"

" I ..um… I'm good….I guess…" she sighed the last part out.

"You guess?" smirked Zuko " Surely _you_ have more news than that." he teased, remembering with a grin how much fun it was to tick her off.

-Is he teasing me?- Katara thought to herself, - what a jerk, I just got here and he's already picking on me!- "Fine!" She shouted angrily, her blue eyes sparkling with outrage, " You want news! Aang and I broke up! Is that news enough for you!" Then realizing what she just shouted out loud she blushed and looked away, angry that she had lost her temper.

His eyes widened with shock. He didn't know what to say. He knew that she was here to tell him something… but not that. And then " He what?" he shouted angrily, rising from where he was sitting " Why would he do that? He is a fool! I don't care if he is the Avatar I am going to kick his butt! What's wrong with him? How dare he hurt you like this!"

Shocked out of her embarrassment, Katara looked up to see a raging Zuko. Fire already building around his hands. His golden eyes reflecting the fire. " No! Zuko, I …" she shouted at him.

"Don't try to make excuses for him, Katara!" Zuko shouted

" I broke up with Aang!" She yelled at him.

Instantly the flames went out. " Wha… but… why?" he stared at her. His golden eyes boring into her blue ones.

"Because he deserves better.. I don't.. I can't love him the way he deserves." she sighed mournfully, looking away from him again.

With an exhale Zuko sat back down on his chair. Unsure of what to think. He simply said " Oh."

After a few minutes of awkward silence and both of them looking in opposite directions. "So…" he began, rubbing the back of his head in confusion of what to say "Umm… How is Sokka?"

She glared at him. "Fine, he's fine. He married Suki ,as you know, and they are going to have a bunch of warrior kids one day. " she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Oh…. Well, let's just hope they get their mother's grace and not their father's." Zuko remarked, trying to lighten the mood some.

Katara snorted, trying hard not to laugh. "And her sense of humor?" she asked dryly.

"I don't know I kinda like Sokka jokes." Zuko said with a small smile on his face, remembering the times he was around the group. Katara gave him a look. "Well, there are one or two that are funny….maybe.." he exhaled, giving her a wary smile.

Katara looked away again, another moment of silence passed. Her temper had soothed some. No time like the present, she thought to herself. "So… how is Mai doing?" Katara asked, looking up shyly at Zuko.

"She's.. umm… good." He looked away from her " I guess."

Katara glanced at him with a question in her eyes.

"Well, you see.. I .. um.. haven't actually seen her in a couple of months. We …umm… well.. she did…broke up." he sighed, looking back at her to see her reaction. Katara looked surprised. Her eyes widening with concern. "Apparently I am boring." he muttered.

"I'm sure that is not what she meant" Katara said softly

" No, that is what she told me. I am boring or at least me being the Fire Lord is boring." he sighed, shrugging his shoulders, watching her carefully.

" I guess I can see how being the Fire Lord is boring but I can't see you being boring " stated Katara " No offense but wasn't Mai always a little bored …with everything?"

"Yeah, I know. I think I always knew it wasn't going to last forever but I guess… I just always thought…." he trailed off.

"I know what you mean…" she said thoughtfully, looking into his eyes.

They stared at each other.

"So…" he started "Well…" she began at the same time

They stopped, looked at each other and blushed looking away while laughing softly.

"Well," she started again " it seems that I have found myself in a place I have not really been before." He raised an eyebrow in question. " I find myself kind of alone." she finished.

"What do you mean Katara?" Zuko asked, confused.

"Well," she sighed, rolling her eyes to the side, " Toph went with Aang to help him with rebuilding after we broke up and apparently Suki and Sokka are having a getaway. The rest of my family is going to the North Pole. So …well.. that kinda leaves just you."- Zuko's eyebrows went up- "I know that we haven't seen each other for a while but ….I just thought maybe we could catch up. Besides Iroh thought that you could use a vacation." She looked up a sheepish grin crossing her face, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

He listened to her, nodding his chin just a bit and then he paused "Wait? My Uncle is here too?" he asked quickly.

"Um... yeah. He is making sure that his tea gets off the ship without too much damage, and then he was going to talk to the council about taking a break from any future meetings for the next few weeks. He told me to go ahead to tell you that we had come for a visit." Katara said to him, her grin turning into a smirk.

He stared at her for a moment in shock and then shook his head. " Well, I guess with my Uncle and you determined to force me to take a break, I guess I won't have much of a choice now will I?" his eyes shining with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"Well, that was the plan!" she said happily, " I am going to go find Iroh and see if he needs any help with anything. Don't worry Zuko, we'll make sure it's a fun vacation for all of us." she gave him a small smile and then got up from her chair. She walked quickly to the door and then stopped when she got to it. Turning her body to look at him she said, " I am really happy to see you Zuko. It has been too long." her smile suddenly becoming shy.

"Yes, it has been too long." he replied, returning her smile. He watched her has she quickly ducked out the door and then sighed to himself. -Dear Agni, this was going to be a long vacation- he thought to himself as he slumped over his desk to put his head in his hands.


	7. Chapter 7

On the first day of Zuko's forced vacation, he awoke before the sun rose, snuck quietly out of his room and into his office to work on some more of his papers. He had informed the guards at the door to allow no one to enter. For a while everything was quiet and he was left undisturbed. Zuko was signing some paper when he heard the guard start to say " Sorry, Fire Lo-", the guards speech was interrupted abruptly, followed by the sounds of scuffling and muffled shouts. Zuko considered for a brief moment getting up to see what the problem, until the door slide open and he knew exactly what had happened. Iroh and Katara both stood in the doorway glaring at him. Behind them he could see one of his guards frozen to the hallway wall, struggling to get out with shocked look upon his face. He met Katara and Iroh's glares with one of his own. Slowly putting down his papers, leaning back in his chair and crossing him arms across his chest. " Yes?" he asked coolly.

"Fire Lord Zuko, you promised that you would take a vacation." Iroh said to him.

"I did no such thing!" Zuko answered coldly, " You two just arrived here and informed me that I would be and I…" he stopped at the sad disappointed look that formed on Katara's face. He sighed and tried again calmly, " Look, it is just that I have got a lot to do and …."

"None of which is urgent." Iroh finished for him, " I have already discussed it with the council and they have agreed to let you take a few weeks to relax your mind and spirit. It is necessary for the Fire Lord to take some time for himself every now and then. Which is why I have taken the liberty of having some bags packed for you so that you can join Katara and I on Ember Island." Iroh finished with a conniving grin.

"But I .." Zuko started.

"Zuko, come on. For old times sake?" Katara asked him,

He looked at her for a while and then back to his uncle. They both had hopeful smiles on their faces. He threw his hands up and made an exasperated sigh. " Fine." he reluctantly agreed.

On the second day, he spent the morning moping around the family beach house that he had redone. Katara and Iroh were on the porch playing a game of Pai Sho and laughing loudly at whatever they were talking about. There was a part of him that was tempted to join them and see what they were discussing but he was still angry about being dragged out to Ember Island. -Surely Uncle of all people should know how much work I have to do- he thought to himself - there is no time for playing around.- His was also frustrated because he was not really sure how to act around Katara. The knowledge that they were both single again, nagged at him. -She's come to see me as a friend, seeking comfort as a friend, just a friend- he told himself. But it was still hard to ignore his attraction for her.

After a while Iroh and Katara shouted to him that they were going into town for lunch and asked him if he wanted to join. " Why? There is plenty of food here?" he had asked them. They had just looked at each other, shrugged and left. Left him. The Fire Lord. Alone. Zuko growled in frustration and stomped into the courtyard to work on some firebending to relieve some of his aggravation.

Katara couldn't understand why Zuko was being so disagreeable. He has seemed pleased to see her the day she had arrived, if maybe a little surprised. But now he was back to avoiding her again. It was really starting to piss her off. Iroh was a good distraction from her anger at Zuko and she enjoyed spending time with him. They went into town and had a nice lunch. Iroh suggested that perhaps they could pick up something special to make for dinner to help Zuko get out of his bad mood.

"A nice homemade meal can always soothe the raging beast" he joked.

She laughed, agreeing with him. " Besides" she told him, " I have been meaning to learn some recipes from the Fire Nation. I could pass them on to Suki since Sokka seemed to like the food here so much."

Iroh looked at her, " Is there a type of food that Sokka doesn't like?" he asked.

"Not really" she said with a laugh.

When they got back to the beach house she was in a more cheerful mood. They placed the food in the kitchen. "Why don't you go find Zuko while I go tell the servants to take the rest of the day off." Iroh said to her.

"Okay." she replied. She walked down the hallway and thought she heard a noise coming from the courtyard. She turned to head into the courtyard and stooped at the sight she saw. Zuko was stripped from the waist up and sweating heavily from working on his fire bending techniques. She had not seen him with his shirt off in years. He was no longer the lithe young man that he was then, no now he was turning into a broad shouldered muscular man She stared at him, her heart seeming to stop beating for a few moments and she had to lean on one the post for support. - This is your friend remember- she told herself. But Spirits, he was handsome. She shook her head to clear the thoughts starting to form. She had to get his attention but she didn't want to have to touch him. Then she thought of way to get his attention and get him back for his poor behavior the past day and half.

Zuko was concentrating on shooting fire balls at imaginary foes when suddenly a big stream of water was dropped on him, soaking him from head to toe and putting out the fire coming from his fists. He stood still for a split second trying to figure out what had just happened and then" What was that for?" he demanded. Spinning around quickly to face Katara who was standing on the side of the courtyard, covering her mouth with her hand trying to cover her laughter. " Well?" he demanded again.

She put her hand down, still laughing lightly. " I just wanted to let you know that we were back." she said with a smile.

"So you had to soak me with your waterbending?" he yelled at her.

"No, that was because you have been such a jerk for the past few days." she told him, meeting his glare with one of her own.

He looked at her for a moment, the anger slowly draining from his eyes and then he looked away. He sighed, " I know. I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm just still really tense from having so much to worry about all the time."

"Well," she said stepping closer to him, " that is why we dragged you out here. So you could get rid of all that tension. Not to mention I didn't come all the way to the Fire Nation just to hang out with your Uncle. I can do that in Ba Sing Se."

He looked back at her, "I know…it's just that…." he stopped, unsure of what to say.

She reached out and unconsciously touched his shoulder briefly before pulling her hand away quickly. She flushed and then said, "Come on. Why don't we go swimming or something? Besides, you _are _already wet." she said with a laugh, and then turned away from him starting to walk out of the courtyard. She stopped, turned slightly back to look at him and raised an eyebrow. " You coming or what?"

He shook his head slightly at the situation then followed her out of the courtyard and into the house. They ran into Iroh who was walking down the hallway to find them.

"Ah, there you two are. I was just…..Zuko why are you wet?" Iroh asked.

Zuko looked in Katara's direction. " I was just convincing him to go swimming" she said with a wicked smile.

Iroh looked between Katara and Zuko feeling a little certain that he had missed something, his eyes narrowing to inspect them. Then he said with a big grin, " Great, I was wanting to find some shells to decorate this house, it is so drab."

Zuko's glare turned to Iroh, who just grinned back at him. Katara took the moment to run, calling out that she was getting changed and would meet them down there.

Katara finished changing into her suit and then inspected herself in the mirror. She poked at herself and glared at her reflection for a bit, then she finally gave up, sighed and left the room.

When she walked down to the private beach she saw Iroh walking in the surf picking up shells that washed up. He was looking them over while talking to Zuko who was clearly not listening to him. Zuko was standing on the beach arms crossed over his chest glaring at the ocean.

Iroh looked up from his shells when he heard her coming. "I was wondering when you were going to be joining us." he chuckled out.

She blushed and muttered, "Sorry."

"Yeah Katara, you practically force me to…" Zuko had turned his head to glare at her and then stopped speaking as his mouth dropped. " What are you wearing?" he asked shocked, turning his body around to face her fully.

She looked at her suit with a frown, "It's a suit that Ty Lee helped me pick out a while ago. Why? What's wrong with it?" She looked back up at him with a concerned look on her face.

Zuko finally closed his mouth but continued to stare at her. He tried to speak but all that came out was, " umm…umm.." No clear thought seeming to come to him as he looked over her.

She was wearing a typical Fire Nation styled two piece swimsuit, except it was blue. A halter top, that only accentuated her breasts, and a short skirted bottom that sat low on her hips and had two slits going up the sides that revealed the sides of her legs.

"What happened to the other thing you used to wear?" he finally ground out.

"My bindings?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face.

Zuko nodded dumbly in response, still staring.

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him for a moment. " Zuko, I haven't worn those to swim in for a year or so. I'm not a young girl anymore who can just run around in my underwear you know." she said. "Like I said, Ty Lee helped me pick this out a while ago but I haven't really had the chance to wear it yet. Does it look that bad? I brought my old suit but it is getting a little small…."- Zukos mouth dropped again- "but I guess I could change if it looks that bad." she finished looking back down at the suit to scrutinize it.

-Smaller?- Zuko thought himself, trying to remember to breath - Dear Agni, kill me now- " It will pass" he growled out.

She shot him an angry glare.

"No, I mean it is fine.. It's …it's…" he tried to start again.

She continued to glare at him.

He struck his forehead with his hand and groaned in frustration.

"I think what Zuko is trying to say is that you look lovely." Iroh spoke up, barely containing his amusement at Zuko's discomfort.

Katara smiled at Iroh's complement .

Zuko looked up quickly at Iroh's comment, " No, I don'…" -Katara's eyes narrowed towards him- "ugh…. I mean yeah. That's right." he finished with a goofy fake grin looking at her. His forehead still red from his hand.

She looked back and forth between the two firebenders contemplatively for a moment. "Okay." she finally said. " So who's up for some swimming?" she asked quickly with a small smile.

Zuko grumbled in response but nodded his head.

"I think I will just soak my aching feet in the surf." Iroh said with a smile.

Katara shrugged and threw her towel on the ground and ran into the water. Zuko grudgingly walked with Iroh into the water more until Iroh stopped and motioned for Zuko to go out further.

Zuko sighed and walked in further until he was waist deep in the water his arms crossing over his chest watching Katara swim with a pout on his face. He turned to glare back at where his uncle was standing. Iroh smiled back at him and then suddenly his eyes widened and his smile grew bigger.

Zuko stared at his uncle for a minute before turning to see what the old man was looking at. All he saw was a big wall of water coming towards him and suddenly soaking him before he had the chance to react. He sputtered profusely, spitting water out of his mouth and wiping it from his eyes. Steam started to rise from his body and he shouted, " That's it!". His angry gaze sought out the waterbender and then quickly swim after her to get his revenge.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent with Iroh sitting on the beach with his feet in the water, laughing at Katara and Zuko's antics in the water. They would take turns splashing each other or sneaking up on the other one to dunk them. Whoever the current victor was would laugh for a moment and the quickly stop, to escape from the other that was coming after them.

At one point Zuko caught Katara catching her hands in his to prevent her from waterbending to get away. He raised her over his head, laughing triumphantly as she laughed and struggled to escape. Iroh chuckled as he stood up, "Well, I think it is time to start on dinner.", he announced.

"Oh, wait. I was going to help!" shouted Katara from her trapped position, struggling even more to be let go.

Zuko lowered her and set her down back in the water and asked, "What does he mean start dinner?"

"Iroh thought it would be nice to make a homemade meal for you. One that the servants didn't fix." she said smiling at him, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh" he replied back. He thought for a moment and then asked, " Do you think he would mind if I helped too?"

She stared at him in surprise and then she said, "No, I think he might enjoy it."

Zuko gave her a crooked grin. They looked up to the shore to see that Iroh had already made it to the house.

"Come one." she said to him, still smiling. Together they ran to the shore, grabbing their towels and shouting after Iroh to slow down as they ran towards the house.

* * *

AN: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. Things have become rather busy in our household with family coming to visit, fall breaks starting soon and the fun of seasonal allergies.

Okay to address a few of the reviews.

Where is Ty Lee: I am assuming that she is still with the Kyoshi Warriors, perhaps even traveling around with some of them to help with rebuilding and providing protection against rebellions in various locations in the nations. The main focus of my story is Zuko and Katara. Perhaps there may be more of an update on Ty Lee later or perhaps not. It just depends on the story develops.

Contractions not used: First off, thank you for the suggestion to check to make sure that I am using them. I will be sure to keep this in mind. You had said that you had not seen any at all, so I went back to check. I counted how many the characters used before adding a few more here and there. Katara-28, Toph- 15, Aang-16, Iroh-4 , Zuko-5, Sokka-3. Please note that Zuko has only been present for the one chapter before this one, Sokka has only appeared in a letter, and Iroh is a very formal man to me so I don't imagine he would use contractions left and right. Zuko and Iroh are (IMO) a bit more formal than the rest of the Gang simply because of their royal upbringing but they will still use them from time to time. As far as using them when angry, it really depends. It's not really the formal grammar that I am worried about but more of the clear stressing of the word that would normally be contracted. When Zuko said "I am going to kick his butt." I was imaging him stressing the "am". Also some contractions can be confusing to understand for sure what the person is saying. I'd for example could mean I would, I should, or I had. But I do appreciate your review.


	8. Chapter 8

Katara stared up at the ceiling in her room while the light from the rising sun poured into her room. The moon had been so beautiful the night before that she had fallen asleep before she closed the shutters on her window, resulting in the sun waking her that morning. She sighed and rolled over in the bed to stare out the window. She laid there a few minutes longer, her mind blank as she stared into the light. She heard a door open and shut down the hallway then footsteps heading down the stairs. She got up from her bed and quickly slipped on a light dressing robe over her nightgown. She quietly opened her door and left her room. Glad that someone else was up she hurried down the stairs to see who it was.

When she reached the bottom she saw one of the servants starting to set the table for breakfast that morning. She started to ask where the other person went when the servant nodded his head in the direction of the beach. She smiled in thanks and headed out the front door then down to the beach.

She saw Zuko sitting on the beach ahead of her and walked to his side. "Hey Zuko…" she started then pausing quickly when she saw that he was mediating." Oh sorry.." she said quietly, beginning to back up slowly.

Zuko opened one eye and saw Katara standing next to him. He closed his eye again and asked "Did you need something Katara?"

She stopped moving and said, "No, I just heard you …well, someone…get up and I just thought since I was already up too I could see who it was and maybe…have some company."

He opened both of his eyes in surprise. "Oh….What are you doing up so early anyway? The sun only just came up, I thought that you would sleep a little longer" he asked her.

She gave him an embarrassed half smile, "Yeah, I forgot to close the shutters last night and the sun woke me up."

"Oh. Well, I was just doing my daily mediation. So…." he started saying.

"It's okay. I don't want interrupt you any longer." she said quickly. She remained standing for a moment then started to move away.

He stared at her for a moment. "Katara….do you want to join me?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

She turned back to him with a surprised look, "Are you sure?" she asked.

He nodded and she sat down a few feet away from him and crossed her legs. They looked at each other for a moment before he looked forward again and closed his eyes. She watched him as he began his breathing routine again, the flames from the candles set in front of him began to rise and fall with each breath. He looked so serene that it was surprising to her to see him that way.

He felt her watching him and he opened one eye to look at her again. She saw him looking at her and she smiled shyly. He smiled softly back and then closed his eye again. "Just relax Katara. I promise I won't try scare you if that's what your worried about" he said with a soft laugh. "Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing."

She chuckled back softly and closed her eyes. She settled into a breathing routine and began to feel herself relax.

Together the sat on the beach and meditated as the sun finished rising. Zuko finished and turned his head to look at Katara. She was so breathtaking sitting there with the sun pouring over her that he felt his heart stop for a moment. He looked down at the water to catch his breath and noticed that the water from the tide was being pulled in and out in rhythm with her breathing. He watched in amazement until he felt her eyes on him again. He looked back up at her to see that she was smiling at him. He felt the corners of his mouth tugging up into a smile to meet hers. " Better?" he asked.

She nodded in response but remained quiet.

He looked at her for a moment longer and then stood up. "Well, I think it is time for breakfast." he said holding out his hand to help her up. Which she took and he pulled her up to standing. They remained holding hands for a moment, looking at each other. Then they both quickly let go and blushed, looking off to the side. "Come on." Zuko said, turning to head back towards the house.

Katara quietly followed him up the path.

* * *

Iroh laughed quietly to himself as he watched his nephew stare scathingly down at the Pai Sho board. Katara had once again beaten him and he was trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. The past three days had gone by rather peacefully. They had spent them swimming, finding more seashells, playing Pai Sho, drinking tea, dragging Zuko into town for shopping trips and, most enjoyable of all, cooking dinner together in the evening. Zuko had suggested after the first night that they should cook dinner for themselves every night. Saying that it was reminiscent of the few good times that he had experienced before the war had ended.

Iroh could still tell that there was some sort of strange tension going on between the two young people but it seemed that they were both repressing it to make the vacation more enjoyable. The only times he could really spot it was when they were sparring in the courtyard. It appeared as though they were trying to kill each other but Iroh suspected that it was something else, which of course left his mind wandering and plotting. He had been surprised and pleased to see both Katara and Zuko walking back from Zuko's mediation time at the beach that morning. He was not aware that the young waterbender woke up that early, but he was good not to show his emotions at the sight over breakfast.

He looked up from his thoughts to see that Katara was explaining her last moves to Zuko. Zuko stared at the board a little longer and then looked up at Iroh and gave him a mock glare.

"Looks like someone has been teaching Katara a few tricks….Uncle" he said turning his head to look back at Katara. "You didn't use to so be good at this."

She smirked in response, "What are you upset that you are no longer having to _let_ me win?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Perhaps….or perhaps I'm just upset that you seem to be better than I am now."

"That's just because I've had more spare time lately." she laughed at him. She leaned toward him and said, "Not to mention the only person that has been around to play against _has _been your uncle and he did teach me a few tricks on how to beat you. But just a few." she said winking at him.

"I knew it." Zuko stated. He leaned toward her more to meet her in the middle of the table. "Now that you know his tricks maybe we can figure out a way together to finally beat the master." he whispered with an evil smirk.

She nodded and laughed with him at his suggestion.

Iroh cleared his throat to get their attention. They both looked up giving him guilty looks, while trying hard to suppress their giggles. Iroh stared at the two of them, a slow smile starting to form on his lips. Something had definitely changed between them that morning.

"I noticed when we were town the other day that the Ember Island Players were doing a play tonight. Would anyone be interested in joining me in seeing it?" Iroh asked them.

Katara and Zuko looked at each and grimaced.

"Which play is it?" Zuko asked Iroh.

Iroh thought for a moment, "I think it might be Love Amongst the Dragons." he said.

Zuko cringed, "If you really want the company Uncle, but I would rather not. You know I really don't care for that group let alone that play."

Iroh nodded and then looked at Katara.

"I don't know…" started Katara, "The last time I say a play with them it wasn't such a pleasant experience."

"So you two are really going to make me go by myself?" Iroh frowned at them.

"Well, I guess I could give them a second chance." Katara said. Then she turned to look back at Zuko, "Would that be okay with you? I don't want to leave you here all by yourself." she told him.

Zuko was surprised that she was worried about him. He shook his head, "No, I don't mind having a little time to myself." he told her.

She gave him a half smile and then turned to Iroh, "Okay, I will go with you."

* * *

Later that night while Katara and Iroh were at the play a letter arrived for Zuko while he was working in the study. He scanned over the letter quickly to see who the sender was. When he found the name he blanched and quickly sent the servant away as he sat down to read it.

When Katara and Iroh returned later from the play Iroh announced the he was going to head to bed. Katara wished him goodnight and then went to search for Zuko. When the servants told her that he was in the study she quickly walked in that direction, a small part of her upset that he would be working on his vacation.

She knocked on the door when she there. "Zuko." she called out as she slid it open. She glanced around the room and saw him sitting on the floor in front of small fire. "Zuko? What are you doing?" she asked.

He heard her come in but didn't look up. "How was the play?" he asked quietly.

She walked over to where he was sitting and stopped. "It was okay… I guess." she said and the she shrugged her shoulders, "At least it wasn't about us." she snickered.

He nodded but continued to stare into the fire, not really noticing her joke.

She stopped laughing and stared at him for a moment and then sat down next to him, "What's wrong?"

He sighed, "I got a letter while you guys were out…It was from Mai."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Really….Is she…. coming back?" she asked quietly, feeling her heart start to ache.

He shook his head, "No, she's not coming back."

"Oh…then what did it say?" Katara asked.

"She is engaged. She wanted to tell me first before I heard it from someone else." he said glumly.

"Oh Zuko, I…I'm sorry." she said to him, unsure of what else to say and ashamed that she was feeling pleased about the news, especially since Zuko seemed so hurt by it.

Zuko shrugged his shoulders, " I knew it would happen…just not so soon." he sighed. "Apparently while she was visiting Ty Lee in the Earth Kingdom she meet someone. Someone who makes her happy and isn't boring." he finished with a frown.

"Zuko, you are not boring. You just have a demanding job." Katara told him.

He sighed again, "I know…."

"Did she really tell you that you were boring?" Katara asked.

He grimaced, "Yes and no. She was bored and unhappy. Things had changed between us." he took a deep breath. "We use to be happy and I know that we both really loved each other but…she just required so much attention. Attention that I couldn't always give and then she would get mad and we would fight for days about it. Eventually I just stopped trying and I guess she did too. It got to the point where all we did was fight or ignore each other."

Katara nodded her head in understanding.

"She knew that as the Fire Lord I would be busy. Especially right now with trying to put everything back together. She never really became to involved with anything that I was doing and so she would just be bored and get angry when I wasn't around. I know she was also wanting me to propose… I…I just couldn't at that time. Not when I wasn't sure….." he stopped and looked at Katara.

"The day she left she asked me if I loved her still and I told her that I didn't know. She just stood there for the longest looking at me. I thought she was going to kill me but then she told me that she didn't know if she loved me anymore either. I didn't know what to say to her. I don't really know myself what happened it just…burned out. We were so happy before and then when I became the Fire Lord things just got so hard and…" he shook his head and turned back to the fire. "I can't help feeling like I let her down somewhere. That I disappointed her…just like I feel like I have disappointed everyone in my life."

Katara leaned over and touched his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her again. She was surprised to see that his eyes were sparkling with anger and tears were starting to form in them. The surprise must have shown on her face because he quickly turned away from her.

"Zuko, you haven't disappointed anyone." she said trying to comfort him. "If she was unhappy too then there was nothing you could have done."

He let out a shaky breath, "I could have tried harder. Given her what she wanted." he said.

"Is that what you wanted?" Katara asked him.

He shook his head vehemently, his hand reaching up to wipe at moisture from his eyes. "I don't think so, like I said all we did was fight. One or both of us was always jealous about something the other one did, she was always bored and I always trying to get her to cheer up, the only thing we ever really did do good together was fight or make out. I know we weren't that happy but I… she turned her back on her friend for of me…I owed it to her to make her happy…but I just couldn't. I tried for the longest and then I just got tired of it. And now she has found someone else who makes her more happy. Part of me is happy for her but a part of me is so angry…. angry that it couldn't be me to make her happy. What is wrong with me?" he asked her, his voice pleading.

"I know how you feel." Katara said softly to him. "I was so upset with myself for the longest that I couldn't be a really happy with Aang."

He looked into her eyes. She fought the urge wipe the few tears left on his face away. Instead she just hugged him lightly with one arm and said, "There is nothing wrong with you Zuko. You can't force yourself to be with someone who doesn't make you happy. I know I don't have the best relationship experience but it does seem like you both tried in your own ways. Sometimes things just don't work out like we hope they would. I mean.. Aang and I never really fought so I thought it was meant to be but I figured out it was just me always suppressing myself trying to make him happy. The few times I did get angry he would get so upset and hurt that I would just back down."

He just stared at her, shocked that she would hold something that was so much a part of her back.

"Why do you think you couldn't love him back? Was there someone else?" he asked quietly.

"I… no… I mean I don't really know" she whispered, unsure herself.

They stared at each other, her hand still touching his shoulder. He leaned towards her just an inch, their breath intermingling as they looked deeply into one another's eyes. - he is going to kiss me- she thought to herself…..

"Thank you." he said instead and quickly ducked his head, so she could not see his face. " Thank you for talking with me. I really appreciate it."

She released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Your welcome." she muttered, trying not to let her disappointment show. She pulled her hand back from his shoulder and stood up, " Well, if you don't need anything else I think I am going to bed."

He just nodded his head, his eyes still looking down at his hands.

She glared down at him and huffed out a breath. "Well, goodnight" she mumbled, turning to walk out the door. When she got to the door she stopped briefly after opening it, a small part of her hoping that he would stop her. When all he did was quietly wish her good night she closed the door, resisting the urge to slam it. She grumbled to herself all the way to her room.

Zuko watched her leave out of the corner of his eyes. When she left he let out a long sigh and slapped his forehead. - Idiot! - he told himself.

* * *

AN: Okay finally. This chapter has kicked my butt. It took me forever to get it out and suffering from a major case of writers block didn't help either. Just a few things.

The little bit about Zuko letting Katara win at Pai Sho is a bit of a shout out to jennibare's story "Lick" which I thought was adorable. If you haven't read any of her stories you really should, she is under my Fav Authors.

Sorry for the tease at the end, but it just felt like it would be something that would happen ^_^ and if you are upset with me and Zuko you aren't the only one, my DH has been ranting at me since he read it.

Thanks for the reviews I am glad to know that you guys are enjoying it so far.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning Iroh watched his nephew poke at his breakfast. Zuko was slouched over his plate in the most unregal manner: he would alternate between pushing his food around the plate or poking at one item or another. Iroh's eyebrow raised in question but he didn't say anything. He turned his head to look at Katara. She was sawing at her meat with such ferocity that he thought she might cut through the plate and then the table itself. Both of his eyebrows raised in confusion as he looked between the two young people. -What happened last night?- he wondered to himself -Yesterday they had seemed so comfortable with each other and now….- he stopped unsure of what to call what he was seeing. It was as if they had switched roles somehow, with Zuko being the nervous one and Katara the agitated one.

Iroh's hand reached up to rub his chin in thought. Perhaps a change of scenery would bring them to a better understanding of each other. " So…" he started to say, hoping to get their attention, "I was thinking that perhaps we could spend the reminder of our vacation traveling around some of the Fire Nation and paying a visit to some of the villages." They both looked up at him with confused expressions. Katara's mouth started to open but Iroh quickly interrupted her, "I know it may not sound like much of a vacation but it would be it would be a good way to see the countryside and see how the villages on the outer islands are doing." he finished.

Zuko was frowning in thought when Katara said, "I think it sounds like fun. We could visit some of the villages that I traveled through before the eclipse."

Zuko turned to look at Katara with a surprised look upon his face, "What? When did you visit those villages?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, " Sokka, Aang, Toph and I were traveled through the Fire Nation to meet up with invasion force on the day of the eclipse. We made a few stops in some of the villages along the way." She huffed and went back to sawing her meat.

"Oh" Zuko replied quietly as he watched her. He turned towards Iroh, "Well, I guess it would be okay. It sounds like a good idea. I am sure it is something the council would approve of."

"Of course they would and I think that we should start by going over to Shu Jing to visit with Piandao. I have not seen him since we won back Ba Sing Se." Iroh said with a grin, already coming up with a plan in his head.

Zuko just nodded his head and then turned it ever so slightly to look at Katara. When he caught her looking at him she narrowed her eyes and glared at him as she stabbed a piece of her sawed apart meat, jabbed in her mouth and chewed with menace. Zuko's eyebrow went up in a mix of shock and a small amount of concern for his safety. He knew that she was upset about last night but he really wasn't sure exactly why. Was it because he had almost kissed her or because he hadn't? He shook his head and tore his gaze from her eyes, tired of thinking about last night. "When did you want to head out Uncle?" he asked Iroh.

"Well, it is still earlier enough where we could head out today if we wanted-" he stopped and reached over a hand over to pat Katara on the back from where she started to choke on her food in surprise.

Katara coughed and finally had enough air to wheeze out, "So soon?"

Zuko stared in concern not sure if he should help or not.

"Why not?" asked Iroh, "It won't take us that long to get packed. My souvenirs I can get the servants to pack up and send on to the palace for when we get back there. We have done everything that there is to really do and I think an adventure would help get out everyone's tension. " he said with his grin still upon his face.

Katara just stared at Iroh slowly blinking her eyes trying to figure out what he meant. Zuko just shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

Three mornings later, Piandao came down to the breakfast table and informed Zuko and Katara that Iroh was not feeling well. They both looked at each and then quickly got up from their seats to head to Iroh's room.

"Uncle, what's wrong?" Zuko asked quickly walking into his Uncle's room.

Katara quickly started to bend some water out of her water skin to cover her hands, "Here Iroh, let me look at you." she said.

Iroh feebly waved her hands away, "No, no it is just probably just something I ate not agreeing with me, nothing overly serious."

Katara bite her lower lip in frustration but bent the water back in the water skin. "Is there anything that we can do Iroh?" she asked.

"No, not really." he said, "The only thing I would like for you to do is head on to the other towns. I am not really sure how much longer I will be feeling this way and I don't want to hold you two back."

"Uncle, I don't really like leaving you behind, especially if you are ill." Zuko said frowning at him.

"Oh it is fine. I will have Piandao and Fat to take care of me. Besides you must be getting tired of having to deal with an old man all the time on your vacation. You two go on and have some fun." he finished giving them a feeble smile.

Katara and Zuko looked at each from across the bed a mixture of concern and suspicion crossing their faces. They looked back down at Iroh and Katara said, "Okay Iroh but promise that if you start to feel any worse you will have Master Piandao send a hawk our way." she turned to make sure that Piandao, who was standing in the doorway, had heard her. He bowed his head slightly at her in agreement.

"Of course my dear." Iroh said, patting her hand softly. "I will go finish getting my things together." she told Zuko.

He nodded and watched her walk out the door. Then he leaned down to Iroh's side, "I don't know what you are up to Uncle but I do know that you are up to something. The only time I have ever known you to be sick from food was when you had poisoned yourself when we were on the run from Azula." he finished glaring at Iroh.

Iroh looked at him innocently, "I don't know what you mean Nephew." he said

"Uh huh." Zuko mumbled. He started to move away from the bed, when Iroh called out to him. He turned slightly.

"Just try to be nice Zuko. You and Katara have more in common than you think." he said quietly with a very small smile.

Zuko's eyes narrowed but he gave a curt nod to his Uncle and said, "I hope that you get better soon." and with that he left the room.

Piandao watched him leave and turned to look back at Iroh. He slowly shook his head and "I sure hope your little plan works."

Iroh shrugged his shoulders his smile remaining "The desire is already there, I have only provided the opportunity. It is up to them now. Would you like to play a game of Pai Sho once they leave"

Piandao smiled, "Of course. I will tell Fat to start the tea. And some snacks I presume?" he asked an eyebrow going up.

Iroh just chuckled.

* * *

Zuko leaned on the counter of the fish mart stand and watched Katara talk with the people of Jang Hui. He had been surprised at how excited she had been when they had arrived in the village the day before. He had been even more surprised about how excited the villagers had been to see her. She had told him a little bit about her time in the village before on the boat ride over. But he assumed that it was just like when she and the gang had put out the meteorite fire in Shu Jing, no one had been around to witness it so the villagers had been none the wiser. These villagers remembered her and were eager to show her how much progress they had experienced since she had helped them.

It was amazing to him how well she interacted with the people of the villages they had visited so far. In both Shu Jing and Jang Hui she had been an integral part of getting the villagers to talk about their needs and concerns to Zuko. Most of the people had been so shocked that their current Fire Lord had arrived personally to their little villages that they were either too nervous or too afraid to upset him to really talk. Katara had a way of speaking with the people to encourage them to share their concerns, ideas or in a few cases praises.

"Did you want some fish?", a voice asked next to him, making him jump off the counter in surprise. He turned to see Dock - or was it Xu?- standing there looking at him with a silly smile. "Oh uh… urr…no. I was just standing here." Zuko replied.

"Pretty sight ain't it." Dock/Xu stated.

"Yeah." Zuko said slowly, a smile forming. Then he realized what he said, "Uh… I mean …umm…." he grimaced as he tried to find something to say, starting to blush.

"Yeah, I've always thought that our village was a pretty sight too. Especially when the sun is setting." Dock/Xu said looking over the village. He turned to looked at Zuko and laughed, " Oh, hehe. You thought I meant Master Katara." Zuko turned bright red and turned away from him. "You should have seen her when she was dressed up like the Painted Lady. She really did our Lady honor." Dock/Xu said smiling, looking towards Katara.

Zuko turned his head to look towards where Katara was standing. -I bet she did- he thought to himself. At that moment Katara, who was laughing at something one of the villagers had said, looked in his direction and caught him staring at her. His eyes meeting her twinkling blue eyes. Her laughter decreased and her big grin slowly transformed into a small smile as she looked at him. He meet her smile with a small one of his own, her lips twitched up some more as she blushed. Then she quickly ducked her head to look back at the little boy standing next to her. He watched her a little longer as Dock/Xu chuckled next to him.

"Now about that fish." Dock/Xu said to him. Zuko just rolled his eyes and started to pull some coins out of his belt pouch.

* * *

The next day they stopped at the Fire Nation village where Aang had gone to school for a few days. Katara had been surprised to find out that school's students had gotten together to start an annual dance in honor of the one that Aang had hosted in the cave almost three years before. At first the headmaster resisted the idea but with the overwhelming majority of the students wanting to hold it and their willingness to hold in it secret if it was banned, made him allow it only with supervision. Zuko had dashed the headmaster's hopes of banning the dance all together by agreeing with the students and saying that it was something that all the fire nation schools should do. Zuko further approved the idea by deciding that he and Katara should attend the dance that just happened to be occurring the very next night. The remainder of the day and the next morning was spent visiting the rest of the village and speaking with the locals. During a brief break Zuko and Katara stopped at one of the shops to have some tea. While there they were there Katara told Zuko about Aang going to the school, how he got in trouble and her and Sokka had to dress as his parents to get him out of trouble. He had laughed when she told him about Aang calling everyone hotman and other 100 year old fire nation idioms and how confused the locals were by them.

The next evening Zuko stood on the corner of the dance floor watching Katara teach the students some of the Southern Water Tribe's dances. He was causally listening to some teachers talk and tapping his foot to the beat of the music when Katara walked up to him. She held out her hand and he quickly shook his head.

"How approving is it going to look if the Fire Lord doesn't dance at least once?" she asked him mischievously. He glared at her quickly but gave her his hand. She dragged him out on the dance floor.

"Katara, I really don't know how to dance that well." he whispered to her quietly

"That's okay Zuko, just follow me." she whispered back with a smile.

He followed some of her steps and then to her pleasure started to add some of his own. It started to feel as though they were sparring but in a much more sensual way as they twirled and ducked around each other. Moving further or closer to each other bodies depending on their steps. She made a final leap toward him as the music slowed and he caught her in mid air. He slowly lowered her down to the ground, her body brushing his as he did. They stared into each other's eyes as they both panted to catch their breath. His eyes were golden flames ,that were holding a strange possessive look, bored into her blue ones. Finally he became aware of the clapping and the people around them and he quickly dropped his hands. He took a step back and bowed to her, thanking her for the dance. She did the same for him and they smiled at each other quickly before heading in separate directions.

For the rest of the evening Zuko kept a distant watch over Katara as she mingled with the other people. Whenever she would catch his eyes following her she would look back at him with a question in her eyes but a smile on her lips. He would just nod at her, it was the protective look on his face that confused her but at the same time pleased her immensely.

Later that night as she lay in her bed she thought back to her dance with Zuko. It had slightly reminded her of her dance with Aang some many years ago. She remembered it being just a fun and full of tension. But she did not remember having to resist the urge to rip of his clothes as she had with Zuko. It was this thought that shocked and surprised her but at the same time excited her to no end. She had always thought that Zuko was attractive so that was no surprise but it was the intensity of the emotions that shocked her the most. Perhaps those dreams she had always had did in fact mean something. But did he feel the same way? There were moments that she thought so because of the way that he looked at her and sometimes the way he acted around her. But he had a chance to kiss her before and he hadn't taken it. So what did that mean?

* * *

AN: Sorry to take so long to post. It has been a busy week so far. Hopefully the next chapter will be up by the end of the weekend if not sooner. Thanks again for all the reviews. I truly hope that you are enjoying the story as much as I am.


	10. Chapter 10

As they were packing up to leave the next morning a messenger hawk arrived from Iroh. He wanted to tell them that he was feeling better but he was going to return to the palace to wait for them to get done. "He say's not to hurry back and to finish visiting the villages." Zuko told Katara.

She nodded at him and continued packing. "What's next on the list?" she asked.

"Fire Fountain City." he said to her.

She paused in her packing and grimaced, "I remember that city. Do they still have that huge statue of your father?" she asked.

He shook his head, "No, it was one of the first things to go after the war. They still have a fire fountain so they kept the name but now the fountain is just a representation of everlasting honor of the fire nation and unity of the nations."

"That's good." she said as she pulled her bag closed. She picked it up and turned around to look at him. She reached a finger out and poked him in the chest hard. His eyes went wide with surprise. "You know that is also the same village where Combustion Man tried to kill us the second time" she told him in a playfully fierce manner.

He smiled sheepishly at her, "Sorry. But I did almost die trying to get him away from you guys." he reminded her.

She looked at him and smiled, "Yeah, I guess you did make up for it."

He smiled at her and put a hand out to take her bag. She narrowed her eyes at him briefly not sure what he was up to but then handed it over to him. He grinned at her and then he turned to leave the room. "Just so you know you might want to be on your guard while there." he said as he was walking away.

"And why would that be?" she asked him.

"Fire Fountain City was hit pretty hard with the end of the war. A lot of people in the village were out of a job when the war ended. I have tried pretty hard to help the people out and brought new jobs into the village but there are still groups that are resistant to the change." he explained to her. "I know you can take care of yourself, I just want you to be prepared in case.", he looked back at her with slightly worried look.

She just nodded at him and followed behind him.

* * *

When they arrived at the city a day later Zuko was surprised that he was greeted so hospitably. Of course it must of helped that he had replaced the Mayor last year when the old one proved to be untrustworthy. The whole first day went by without an incident, Katara once again worked her magic somehow and encouraged the town to talk about their concerns and needs. Even in a town that had once had so much invested into the war effort they were charmed by Katara, who once would have been considered the enemy.

The next day Zuko was so focused on his discussion with the mayor that he didn't notice his attacker until he heard a loud splash, a low grunt and clang of metal hit the ground. He spun quickly to see Katara freezing one of the attackers in place, while water whipping the weapon out of another's hand. Her actions had alerted the Royal Guards to the attack and they were quickly dispatching the others. Zuko noticed a movement behind Katara. He pulled out his dao swords and jumped quickly behind Katara knocking the knife that was flying towards her unprotected back out of the air. He growled in anger and rushed at the attacker before the other man had time to pull out more of his weapons. The other man tried to run the opposite direction but Zuko sent a small wall of fire in front of him blocking his escape. Zuko ran up to man, who was staring around him in confusion of where to go, and quickly knocked him out with the hilt of one of his swords. He looked around to make sure their were no more attackers when his eyes fell on Katara. She was staring at him with a mix of admiration and appreciation. When she saw him looking back at her a very small smile formed on her lips as she nodded slightly at him.

When they had finished rounding up the small group of men and placing them into the prison where they questioned them. Much to Zuko's disgust it was just the same problem that had been occurring since the end of the war. A band of scammers and war activists who weren't happy with the changes the new Fire Lord had made. He gave them the option of being sent to the coal mines or they could attempt to become productive citizens of the city after they spent some time in jail. Only one of the men refused his offer.

Later that evening after dinner, Zuko ranted to Katara how he could not understand the bitterness of such men or why they were so resistant to change especially if it is was for the better of the fire nation and ultimately themselves as well. "Change is scary Zuko." she told him quietly, "It is a step into the unknown and uncomfortable. One can never know for sure if change will be for the better or for worse so it is easier to stay with what one knows, even if it is bad."

"You think I don't know that!" he all but shouted back at her as he paced the floor, " But it is necessary! Without change there is no growth, no betterment within a person or society. I, of all people, know how frightening it is. I turned my back on my father, tossed away everything that was normal to me for the risk of change. But I did it for my country, for the other nations, for myself! I knew deep down that what was happening wasn't right. Even when I had gotten everything back that I thought I wanted, I knew. There was a part of me that fought it, yes but I still did it. Why is it so wrong for me to expect my people to do the same?" he punctuated by slamming a fist in the wall next to him.

Katara quietly stood up and went to stand next to him. "I understand Zuko. I really do but remember that these people believed in something that they had been told was true and right for 100 years. For them to suddenly have the knowledge that they had been lied to by the very people they had trusted with their livelihood, their honor it takes some time for them to gain that trust back. Any time there is a sudden change there is the fear that things could get worse instead of better, which is why some of the people have fought so hard against it. They are so worried that your rule will be worse than your father's or grandfather's that they afraid to give you the chance to let them down. And even then you will always have the people like today that only fought out of resistance of losing their power. You know that is the only reason that rabble of men banded together to attack you. You took away their power over the people, the control they had. The control your father made it so easy for them to take because he didn't care."

He sighed and leaned into the wall more and rested his head on the wall. "It's just exhausting Katara."

"Trust me I know. Old hurts and hatreds take a long time to heal. I can't count how many times Aang and I had intervene in arguments in the towns that had both fire nation and earth nation residents. Even in towns where people from the fire nation had resided before the war or very near the beginning of it. It seems there will always be people who will be fearful of others that are different or came from a place that caused them or their family harm", she explained to him. "Some people even harm innocent people that had nothing to do with the bad things that happened to them just to get even." she added quietly.

He turned his head to look at her, his expression serious. "You could have been hurt today by those men."

"Oh please." she smirked, "They better be thanking the spirits I didn't hurt _them_ anymore than I did. I am a master waterbender you know. I am completely capable of taking care of myself and you for that matter." she laughed.

He chuckled softly and nodded his head.

"But for the record Zuko. You might want to listen to you own advice about being on guard." she looked at him pointedly.

He stared at her for a moment and then said quietly, "Point taken." He watched her as she stifled a yawn.

"Well I don't know about you Firebender, but I am tired and not all of us are so happy to see the sun in the morning. Especially if we have to get up early to head to next village." she said, starting to yawn again. " Goodnight Zuko." she said with a smile and then headed out the door to her room.

"Night." he called after her quietly. He watched her leave and moved across the room to go look out the window. He stared into the city for a while before his gaze was drawn up to the moon, it was almost full he noticed.

* * *

The next village on the list was one of the few that Katara had been dreading. It was the village that Hama had lived in. A few hours after their arrival Katara had made a quiet inquire to the local authority about Hama's whereabouts. The man had informed her none to happily that the old woman had died after only a month of being in jail. "She cursed us vehemently for days and swore that she would not be left to rot in a cell again, then she just up and died mysteriously. It was almost like her heart just stopped beating. We buried her at the far end of the cemetery and placed wards around the her grave to keep her from haunting the village. Not really sure if it has worked too well because most of us are still to spooked to stay out on nights of the full moon."

Katara grimaced but nodded at the man. She was feeling relief to hear that Hama had passed but a small part of her was regretful.

Suddenly remembering that Katara was waterbender, the man looked over at her with a worried expression, "Why do you ask? You weren't friends with her were you?" he asked nervously.

She shook her head, "No, I wasn't friends with her. I thought we could have been but then I found out what she had done. My friends were the ones that rescued her prisoners and helped turn her in."

The man sighed in relief, "Well we do thank you for that."

She just nodded at him again.

Later in the middle of the night Zuko heard the door to Katara's room open and close. He listened as she walked quietly down the stairs of the house they were staying in and leave the building. Curious, he left his room and quietly followed her out. The light of the full moon lit up the streets rather brightly but he tried his best to keep to the shadows. He followed her through the town and watched as she stopped in front of the cemetery. She glanced around her quickly and then stepped in. He quickly followed after her. She made her way to the far corner of the cemetery where only one very simple grave marker lay well away from the others. She stopped in front of the site and stood over it looking down.

"You don't know how much I hate you." she said suddenly. Zuko surprised thought that she was talking to him, he almost replied when he heard her continue on. "I hate you so much for tricking me into learning your horrid bending." she bite back a sudden sob, "I think you were a horrible bitter woman taking your anger out on people who hadn't harmed you…. But at the same time I understand it." the tears forming her eyes spilled over and she fell onto her knees ."Spirits help me but I do." she cried softly into her hands.

"Katara?" Zuko asked suddenly, no longer caring about being stealthy but more concerned about Katara.

"Oh!" Katara spun her upper body around to face him, "Zuko? What are you doing here?" she asked hastily trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I…uh…I heard you leave the building and I…umm… well I was just curious so I followed you." he looked at her with a sheepish look. He took a small step towards her then stopped, "Are you okay?" he asked her quietly. "I heard you talking to the grave and then you started crying….?" he stopped speaking unsure of what was happening.

She turned back around to face Hama's grave. She sighed, "I just needed to pay a visit" she stood up slowly and turned to face Zuko.

"What exactly is going on, Katara?" Zuko asked with a confused yet concerned look on his face.

She sighed again and looked off to the side. Then she looked back over at him, "Walk with me?" she requested quietly.

He just nodded in response and followed her out of the cemetery. He followed her until she reached a field of fire lilies where she stopped to look up at the moon. "Do you remember what I did to the new captain of the Southern Raiders on the boat when we were looking for Yon Rha?" she asked softly.

He thought for a moment back to that day trying to figure out what she meant. Then it suddenly hit him. "You mean how you controlled his body when he tried to fight us?" he asked bewildered.

She nodded. "It's called bloodbending and it was taught to me by the woman who's grave we were just at. She was another waterbender of the southern water tribe." she told him, still speaking quietly.

"What?" Zuko asked, feeling really confused now. "But if she was a waterbender from your tribe what was she doing here?"

"She was one of the last waterbenders to be captured in the many raids the fire nation had made into the tribe, long before I was born. She was put in a prison here in the fire nation where she was kept caged and isolated for years." she explained to him. She looked up at him and saw that he had a horrified look on his face but he kept quiet so she continued speak. "When she escaped she moved here into this town and became an innkeeper. I meet her when the gang and I were traveling through here to get to the Black Cliffs. She knew that Sokka and I were water tribe and when she found out that I was a waterbender she offered to teach me some waterbending tricks that she had learned while living in the fire nation. I was ecstatic. She was the only other living southern waterbender that I had meet so of course I let her teach me. She taught me how to pull water out of thin air, to take it from plants and other living things. It was amazing the things she taught me. But she had one more trick to teach but it could only be used on a full moon. It was how she had escaped prison. One night on a full moon she discovered that she could use the water within the rats to control their movements. She used that same technique on one of the guards. She controlled his body and forced him to unlock her cage."

Katara stopped speaking for a moment and took a deep breath, " I was horrified and refused to learn it but she said it was my duty to learn it. That I must take vengeance upon the fire nation for trying to wipe out our culture. When I still refused she tried to use the bloodbending on me. I was able to fight her off but she quickly took control of Aang and Sokka. Controlling their bodies to attack me and then each other. She forced me to use bloodbending against her to stop her from hurting anyone. She had also been using her bloodbending to kidnap villagers from the village on nights of the full moon and imprisoning in the mountain. We saved them but even today with her dead, she still frightens them."

She shook her head, "I swore after that day that I would never again use bloodbending but I did. I let my anger get the best of me and I used it against and innocent person."

"Katara." Zuko started to say, but she quickly interrupted him saying. "Jeong Jeong was wrong."

He closed his mouth and looked at her confused by her statment, "What?" he asked.

"Jeong Jeong told me that water brings healing and life while fire only brings pain and destruction. He was wrong. Both elements are capable of pain and destruction. Bloodbending can't be used without waterbending. So how does that make waterbending any better or less destructive than firebending? Waterbending is controlled just as much by one's emotions as firebending is!" she shouted at him.

"I hate Hama so much for forcing me to learn bloodbending but I understand her. I feel sorry for her. That could have been me! If I had let my anger and hate rule me I would be just as bad as her. I don't really know for sure if I could say I wouldn't become just as evil if I had spent years in jail. Watched my friends slowly disappear one by one. Watched my culture almost die out in front of my eyes. Would I have really been any different? When we were looking for Yon Rha I was so angry that I used the very thing I swore I wouldn't against an innocent man." she gasped and tears started to pour down her cheeks. Her breathing becoming ragged as she sobbed.

Before he realized what he was doing Zuko stepped next to her and put his arms around her. He hugged her tightly as she cried into his shoulder. He shushed her quietly and she started to quiet down. He pulled away slightly and took her face into his hands and forced her to look at him. "You didn't know at that time. And you not as bad as Hama. You didn't even take vengeance on the man who did deserve it. Which means to me that you are better than her. You may have let you anger get the best of you to begin with but you got control of it. You didn't let it control you the way Hama let hers." he looked into her eyes that looked like blue pools of water. "If it makes you feel any better I can sympathize with her too. But you are not her. And I don't think you could ever be. You even forgave me remember." he told her with a small smile.

She didn't smile back but continued to stare at him. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes again and she leaned her head back into his shoulder again.

He sighed with uncertainty and slowly placed his arms around her shoulders, not knowing what else to do to comfort her. "Katara, we are all capable of great evil but what matters is if we can control it and defeat it." he said quietly as he laid his chin on her head softly. He looked up at the full moon that was shining over them -maybe we do have more in common than I thought- he said to himself.

* * *

AN: Okay so I lied. It took a little longer to get finished and I apologize. I can't believe how busy things have been for me lately. But here is chapter 10, I hope that you enjoy it and find it intriguing.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, after much discussion with Zuko, Katara arranged to have Hama's coffin sent back to the Southern Water Tribe. Not out of any real respect for her, she assured the villagers, but more of a way to help relieve their fear of her lingering spirit by sending her back to her home. They spent a few more days at the village waiting for the ship that was to travel to the south pole to arrive. Once everything was loaded, all messages had been written and passed on, and the ship sent out to sail. Katara and Zuko continued their journey. They traveled to the remaining villages without much incident. When they went the village that Yon Rha lived in Katara had been concerned he would recognize them but they soon learned that the man had died six months earlier.

Zuko had been strangely quiet and contemplative around Katara since the night she had told him about Hama and her learning bloodbending. She was beginning to think that he was afraid of her and what she had revealed since he was not really talking to her that much anymore. But she would catch him watching her out of the corner of her eye when she was talking to the villagers or to the guards. The look on his face was not one of fear but one of interest. It was confusing to her because of all the mixed signals that he was sending out. Was he interested? But then if he was why was he seeming to avoid her? She shivered slightly as the cool breeze touched her bare skin. Fire Nation grab was useful during the hot days and nights but not when one was standing on boat with the wind and waves rolling past. She brought her hands up to rub her arms for warmth as she stared into the churning water as the boat sailed along. She sighed softly as her worries consumed her even more, making her feel even colder.

She was so concerned with her thoughts that she didn't hear the soft footsteps walking up behind her. She was not aware that she was no longer alone until a voice said, " Are you cold?"

She let out a little squeak and jumped spinning to face the speaker, "Zuko?" she asked surprised to see him.

His lips tugged up lightly into a smile in amusement of startling her and he cocked his head to the side in question.

" No.. I uh.. I'm fine." she said, but her body betrayed her at the last word and her teeth began to chatter slightly. She turned away from him quickly and tried hard to quiet her chattering teeth and suppress the shiver that was starting.

Zuko's amusement quickly vanished when he saw that she really was cold. He quickly took off his outer robe and dropped it on her shoulders ignoring her gasp of surprise.

"Zuko! I'm fine, it's just the wind blowing." She said turning towards him and trying to shrug the robe off.

He held the robe onto her shoulders to prevent her from shrugging it off. " You need it more than me right now." he stated.

"Zuko, I have my own robe I just forget to get it." she told him, slightly aggravated.

"Then just use mine for right now." he said to her.

"Zuko, you're the Fire Lord, You can't…"

"Yes I can. Now keep it on!" he demanded, interrupting her. "Besides the last thing I need is for you to get sick. Your father and brother would kill me." he added softly.

She glared up at him. Angry that all she was to him was an obligation. The moment his eyes meet hers her anger died. The genuine look of concern in his eyes confused her. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out so she closed it again in a pout. She watched as Zuko's eyes moved from hers to stare at her lips. Her eyes widened in surprise and she blushed fiercely. She turned quickly to face the water again. The movement cause Zuko's hands to drop from her shoulders. For a brief moment Katara missed the heat of his hands then she blushed hard at the thought and buried her face in the robe hoping to red color of them would disguise the redness in her face. With her next breath she realized that was a mistake to put her face in the robes. The overwhelmingly smell of Zuko's scent sent her knees buckling and her gasping for air. She quickly grabbed the metal railing of the boat for support.

"Katara?" Zuko asked her quickly, his hand returning to her shoulder to steady her. "Are you okay? Do you need me to take you inside?"

She nodded her head vigorously, " Yeah, I just.. uh… just lost my balance. Sorry."

He was quiet for a moment and she could feel his eyes on her. Finally he said, "If you say so." he voice doubtful.

She nodded again to reassure him but she didn't turn back to meet his eyes.

He sighed his hand leaving her shoulder to run through his hair. "Look, the reason I came out here is to talk to you." he started his tone turning more serious. " It's about when we get back to the mainland" he stopped to consider his words.

She grimaced at the seriousness of his voice. -Here is comes- she thought to herself -he wants me to leave because I am a danger.-

"Would you consider staying and becoming a delegate for me?" he asked her quietly.

"What?" she asked in surprise, spinning around to face him. Confusion written across her face. "I don't understand.." she started to say.

"Look, I know it is sudden and I know that is not your home but Katara you have been amazing with the villagers. I mean I know that they are not your people but you seem to have a way to get through to them that I can't. And I… I could really use your help. You saw how hard it was for me to get them talk to me it is the same way the Nations' council. I don't know what you were planning to do after this you may want to go home. And I understand but I just wanted to ask you anyway." he said all this in a rush and then stopped with a almost pleading look upon his face.

It was so unlike him that she almost laughed out loud but she stopped before she did knowing that would not help. She was relieved that he was not telling her to leave after telling him her horrible secret but at the same time she was completely and utterly confused by what he did ask. Why in the world would he want her to do what a Fire Nation noble should do? She hadn't really thought about what she would do after the vacation but that?

She just stared at him for a moment and finally she said, "I don't know Zuko…." she stopped shocked to see his face fall slightly. She started again, " Do you think I could think about it and then let you know?"

"Of course" he said nodding his head, "I don't want to rush you but I just know that we are heading back to the mainland so I thought it was a good time to ask." he gave her a sheepish smile.

She just stared at him.

He looked at her for a moment then he said, "Well I need to go talk with the captain for a moment. Are you going to stay out here?"

She shook her head, "No, I think I will go in and head to bed." she told him.

"Do you mind if I walk you to your room?" he asked softly.

She blushed a little and nodded.

They walked next to each other off the deck and into the narrow passageway. He walked behind her until she reached her door. She reached out the grab the handle and stopped to look up at him.

"Thanks" she said to him softly.

He stared at her his golden eyes blazing at her. He nodded stiffly and said, " Night." And then quickly turned around and walked down the hallway to the captain's quarters.

She stared after him for a moment and the opened the door and stepped into the cabin. She sighed softly, closing the door behind her and letting her shoulders drop. The movement making her realize that he was still wearing his outer robe. She gasped and made to go back out the door but stopped. Instead she slowly removed it and stared at it as she went to sit down on the bed. She was so confused. One minute she thought he wanted her and then the next she wasn't sure. But this time she had been to one to back off when she thought he was getting too close. What she had felt at that moment had frightened her. As much as she had thought she wanted him to kiss her it just so soon. She couldn't start a new relationship so soon. Could she?

She shook her head. She had been spending to much time with Zuko she had gotten to know him a little more and realized that was she felt was more than just a little crush. But did he feel the same way? Yes he had asked her to stay in the fire nation but not to be with him. Just to work with him. She knew the people of the fire Nation needed that but could she do it. Be around him but not be with him as anything more than friends? She was so afraid that he didn't feel the same way.

She sighed and looked back at the robe. She caressed it gently with her fingers and then pulled it to her face and breathed in the smell of Zuko that remained on it. She laid back in the bed still holding onto the robe. Spirits, she was confused.

Down the hallway Zuko leaned on the wall just out of sight of Katara's room. He let out an exasperated breath and hung his head. -Well I did ask her to stay at least- he told himself -that's something, even if she doesn't want to stay to be with me exactly.- His mind wandering to just a little while ago when he thought about kissing her and she promptly turned away from him. He sighed again and walked back to his cabin. Once there he began to get ready for bed and suddenly realized that that Katara still had his outer robe. He stopped what he was doing and suddenly a thought crossed his mind. Could it be that….? He shook head. No… but what if?

* * *

AN: Short chapter but it is something. Sorry to leave all my readers hanging for a while, things have been busy. Had my 5th wedding anniversary, my husbands birthday and then Halloween all within two weeks. Things like that eat up time and I had to chase the muse around for a bit in order to catch her. Halfway done with the next chapter so it shouldn't be much longer (I hope). Hope you enjoy.

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	12. Chapter 12

The next morning as the ship was pulling into the harbor of the Fire Nation capitol Katara was finishing packing her bags. She was staring once more at the robe that she had fallen asleep with when she heard a knock on her door and Zuko's voice calling her name. She jumped in embarrassment and quickly shoved the robe into her bag and pulling it closed seconds before Zuko came through the door. She clutched the bag to her chest and she spun around in aggravation to face him.

"Don't you ever wait for someone to tell you to come in or do you always just barge in like you own the world?" she asked angrily.

Zuko, who had started to walk towards to help her with her bag stopped in shock. "I… uh…. No… I mean….what?" he asked her with a confused look on his face.

"Nevermind." she muttered as she tried to push past him.

"Katara!" Zuko said startled by her anger. He reached out to grab her shoulder to stop her from leaving.

She froze as soon as he touched her but did not turn around to look at him. She just held her breath at his touch attempting to curb her temper and not yell at him for touching her.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked her quietly. Staring at the hair that cascaded down her back, resisting the urge to run a hand through it. "I'm sorry if you felt I was barging in but I did nothing different than what I have done every morning….but next time I will wait if you want me to." he said to her gently. After a few seconds he felt the tension release from her shoulders as she let out a small sigh.

"I'm sorry Zuko. I just didn't sleep that well and I…was just lashing out." she said with resignation.

He continued to stare at her hair for a few second longer, waiting for her to turn around. When it was apparent she wasn't he asked her, "Okay. Did you want me to help you with you bag?"

She shook her head quickly and he let his hand drop from her shoulder with a sigh. She started walking out the door into the hallway. " I will see you on the deck I guess." he called after her but she didn't really respond other than to nod her head and just kept walking.

He stared after her as he quickly went over in head what just happened. -What did I do?- he wondered incredulously to himself. From what he could tell he really did nothing to really upset her so why was she so mad. He frowned to himself a moment longer and then shook his head in aggravation. He started to walk out the door himself when he stopped remembering his robe. He turned and glanced around the room assuming by her behavior that she had tossed it off to the side somewhere. When he couldn't find it his eyes narrowed and he spun around to peer out the doorway into the hall. Katara wasn't there. He leaned against the door frame and rested his head against it. If it wasn't in the room then she must have taken it, perhaps she just packed it in her stuff by accident. Or maybe it was one purpose… but why would she be so aggravated with him if she had. He shook his head again. He really didn't understand women.

When he got up to the deck he saw he talking to one of the guards, deciding that he could ask her later he went to find the captain. The next time he went to look for her it was after they had docked. He spent a few minutes searching the deck for her when one of the guards approached him and told him that she had already returned to the palace to check on Iroh. He gruffly dismissed the guard and turned to look in the direction of the crater. He ground his teeth in an effort to keep him temper in check.

Katara felt like coward fleeing from the boat as soon as it landed but she knew that she couldn't handle seeing Zuko at the moment. She wasn't lying to him when she had told him she hadn't slept well. She had spent most of the evening fretting over her feelings for Zuko and when she had finally fallen asleep she had tossed and turned. Her fears had made their way into her dreams and had caused her to wake up several times over the night gasping for air and breaking into tears. She had to find Iroh, she needed to talk to someone else about this. She knew that Zuko was attracted to her but was that it? He had asked her to be a delegate. To be the same thing that she had been to Aang. A useful pawn that also happened to take care of him when he needed it. She couldn't bear to be in another passionless relationship. Being nothing more than friends. She didn't know if she could even stand to be around Zuko everyday knowing how much she loved him if he did not feel the same. To have him but at the same time not would be unbearable. Even if did turn into a purely physical relationship one day he would have to marry that would kill her all over again. Leave it to Iroh to talk her into taking a trip that would end up causing her to confront her feelings for Zuko. Perhaps it would have been better for her just return to the south pole to begin with. She groaned to herself and hurried towards the palace wanting to get there before Zuko did.

* * *

Two days later she walked into Zuko's office not bothering to wait for the guard to introduce her.

"Well, looks like someone has decided to finally act like a grown up." Zuko stated quickly, not bothering to look up from his papers. He knew the instant that she walked in who it was.

She sent glare in his direction and quickly sat in the chair across from him. She didn't say anything but turned her eyes to stare at the floor.

He peeked at her from out of the corner of his eye. He had spent the last two days in a foul mood. His short temper has sent servants and council members alike fleeing from his raging path. He knew she had been in the palace creeping around like some spirit to avoid him. He knew that she had been talking with Uncle but had not bothered to seek him out. The few times he had invited her to join him for dinner or tea or even sparring she had refused. After all the time they had spent together and how well they had gotten to now each other on that so called vacation she refused to talk to him. Even Uncle wouldn't tell him what the problem was, he had just babbled some nonsense about bitter patience and sweet fruit. Well he was tired was being patient. He glared at her fully now. How dare she ignore him and then come in here acting like it was somehow his fault.

Almost as if feeling the heat of his gaze she turned her eyes to meet his and quite suddenly he felt his heart stop in his chest. Her blue eyes were full of such anguish that he felt the immediate urge to scoop her into his arms and take it away somehow. She just stared at him for a moment her gaze flickering along his face until she yanked it back to his eyes. He was at a loss of what to do for her and he was amazed that his anger has seemed to vanish so quickly in that moment of looking in her eyes.

When he finally caught his breath again he whispered her name quietly. His voice filled with worry.

She quickly tore her eyes from his and found a corner to stare at. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. I just had some things to think about. I didn't mean to upset you"

"Okay…" he stopped to clear his throat, which had become clogged in surprise at her sudden apology. "Did you get it figured out?"

"I don't know yet" she got up from her seat and walked slowly over to a painting that was on the wall. "I spent a lot of time thinking about what you had asked me. And I spent some time thinking about what I wanted for myself and what I could do to make myself happy. Iroh helped me out a little by listening and giving his usual cryptic advice. I think that I may have come to some sort of decision but is all just depends on ….." she stopped and turned to look at him.

"Zuko, do you remember the day we fought your sister? "she asked, her voice quiet.

"Yes...? How could I forget." with a questioning look in his eyes. -What did this have to do with his offer?-

" Well… I've always wondered why you leaped in front of the lighting to save me. Why did you?" she asked him, a very questioning look in her eyes.

" Well, I ...uh…" Zuko was suddenly uncomfortable and desperately looking for something to say he said, "You were under my protection, I asked you to come with me and I wasn't about to let my sister kill you only to have the Avatar come kill me for letting his girl get killed." he rambled out, not realizing what he had said until he finished

Katara stared at him for a moment and then she quietly said, "Oh."

"Katara look…. what I meant was….uh… I…" Zuko stopped trying to find the right words to say, starting to rise from his desk.

"I really appreciate your offer to be a delegate Zuko but I…I don't think I can accept it. It would just be too…." she gasped suddenly as the tears threatened to start pouring . "I'm sorry I have to go."

Katara walked quickly toward to door and just as she started to slide it open a hand reached around her to shut the door back. Katara stared at the hand holding the door shut.

"Katara?" Zuko whispered, his voice in her ear. "Why did you really break up with Aang?"

She turned to look at him. Desperately trying to hold back her tears. He was so close, it made her a bit nervous. "I told you. Because he deserves someone who is going to love him back the way he needs. I told him…" her voice caught, " I told him I would stay with him if he wanted me to but he said he didn't want that for me… And I… I always wondered why you… um... because I …uh…" she stopped her nervousness causing her unable to finish.

"I would have never asked you to leave him for me." Zuko stated quietly, looking in her eyes.

A soft cry escaped her lips and she turned away from him before he could see her cry.

He leaned his face into her hair and breathed in the scent of her. Something he had always dreamed of being able to do . He sighed, "I never wanted to hope that you would…I never wanted to suffer the pain of it if you didn't…..but it did not stop me from hoping."

A gasp escaped her lips, she turned quickly to look at him to gauge the truth of his words. When she realized how close he was she tried to back away but the door prevented her from going to far. She looked up at him tears in her eyes her heart beating loudly in her ears. "But Mai…?" Katara asked, a tear escaping to roll down her cheek.

"Mai, yes. " he sighed as he softly wiped away the tear with the pad of his thumb, "She has always been there, I thought I loved her and in a way I did but…it wasn't enough for her…or for me. Besides you were with Aang. You were the Avatar's girl. I knew Aang's feelings for you back then. And…. I knew he deserved you… more than I did." he looked away from her for a moment, "I mean he is the Avatar…. and I… I'm the great-grandson of the man who tried to take over the world, the son of the man who tried to burn it, … my family had done nothing but try to undo the balance of four Nations for 100 years" He looked back up at her, into her beautiful blue eyes. His hand reached out and grasped a strand of her hair. He caressed it softly. "Who am I to deserve such a wonderful person as you?"

"I have always thought that you were so strong, even when I was hunting Aang and the times we battled. And in the cave under Ba Sing Se….the betrayal to you and Uncle…it haunted me. And you were so much more willing to forgive than I… you taught me that revenge it not always necessary. How could I not protect you from Azula? And then we become so close and I knew that I started to feel more than just friendship and I .. I think that I have always loved you but I knew that I did not deserve you. Not after all that I had done." he said softly the anger at himself building, hot tears starting to form in his eyes. "I didn't know what else to do Katara. You were going to go away and leave me and this time I knew how much I needed you but I… I love you but I still feel like I don't deserve you so I asked you to stay as a delegate in the hopes that maybe you wouldn't leave and one day you might grow to care for me to."

She looked at him in amazement and then laughed softly to herself gently shaking her head, "Seems we were both deceiving ourselves."

"I guess so." he replied quietly.

They stared at each other, listening to their beating hearts. She leaning against the door for support, he standing close to her his hand moving further up her hair to trace her hair loopie.

She looked away for a moment gathering her courage and then looked boldly back at him. "I think that you deserve me. I think that you are good man, it may have taken you some time but.. you have proven yourself more than worthy. I would be a fool not to love you. And you would be a fool not to love me back" saying the last part with blue fire in her eyes and a wicked grin.

He smiled when he saw the glint in her eyes and the smile, daring him to take the bait. "You are still Katara" He let go of her hair and reached his hand around to grasp the back of her head. He leaned in closer to her face, an equally mischievous fire in his eyes. "Only now…you are _my _Katara." he whispered to her with a fierce possessiveness.

He closed the inches between them by ducking his head and lightly touching his lips to hers. He rubbed her lips softly with his own, savoring the feeling. Then his kissed her gently pressing his lips onto hers and then lightly traced the seam of her lips with his tongue. She opened her mouth with a sigh of pleasure and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His fingers tangled in her hair and her hands crept up to his face as she rose on her toes to kiss him harder, her tongue seeking his shyly. With a groan he wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her to him with a raging need and kissed her desperately. She clung to him as his lips ravaged hers letting the ecstasy of the moment take her.

He pulled away reluctantly and rested his forehead on hers. They stared deeply into each others eyes, both of them gasping for breath. They both knew what it was they had each been missing and everything they had been wanting. After a few minutes Zuko finally got his breath back and leaned his head back to look at her fully.

"Besides…." he said with a smirk "You didn't think I was going to let you leave without getting my robe back did you." he raised his eyebrow at her.

Katara pulled away from him and quickly punched him hard in the arm, with a mock glare.

"Ouch!" he cried, rubbing the sore spot "I think you have been hanging around Toph too much. You've picked up some of her uncultured habits."

With a cry of indignation she went to punch him again but he was too quick for her. He grabbed both of her hands and pulled her into him. " You're still a feisty one little waterbender." he said with a grin. He leaned in and kissed her with great intensity until she fell limp into him.

She looked up at him with a content sigh, the gleam still in her eye "You wouldn't have it any other way, would you firebender?"

"Never." he said as he leaned down to kiss her again, " Never" he whispered against her lips.

* * *

AN: Yay, they finally kissed ^_^ Since my birthday is tomorrow(11.11, there are far too many things that happen in the fall for me, lol) I thought I would share it with you by giving you a gift as well, what this has all been building up to.

I thought perhaps this might be the end but alas I feel the story tugging at me to continue it just a bit further, nothing too much mind you just to let you know of their future. I do hope you won't mind.

Thank you for all the anniversary wishes! I had posted that merely to explain the delay but I do dearly appreciate your wishes.

And just for those that are curious the babbled nonsense that Iroh told Zuko, it was: Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit- Chinese Proverb


	13. Chapter 13

~_7 months later_

Zuko walked through the corridors of the palace to return to his quarters. He sighed heavily as he pushed the loose hairs escaping from his top knot away from his face. It had been an exhaustingly long day and he was ready for it to be over. He reached his hand back to rub his neck as he passed by the courtyard. Suddenly he stopped walking, hearing a quite noise coming from the courtyard he looked out into it and spotted a figure sitting by the pond. He smirked to himself and quietly jumped the wall. He padded softly out to figure taking care not to make any noise. He crouched down to spring into an attack.

"I was wondering when I would see you, Zuko." a soft voice told him.

He took a surprised intake of breath and then smiled as he quickly sat down beside her. "How did you know I was there?" he asked. He heard her laugh and it made him realize how much he had missed the sound of it.

"The turleducks." she told him simply with a smile, "They suddenly got very excited and when I didn't really hear anyone walking up I figured it must be you." she shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him.

He smiled back at her and then quickly reached his hand out and cupped the back of her head pulling her to him as he pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her hungrily with a sudden raging need that she eagerly meet. He pulled his lips away to take a gasp of air and leaned his forehead onto hers. He closed his eyes, "Agni, I missed you."

She laughed "So I can tell!"

"When did you get here?" he asked her pulling his head away from hers, running his hand through her hair.

"Later in the morning." she told him.

He looked at her confused, "Then why didn't you come find me sooner?" he asked her.

She laughed again as she reached a hand forward to touch his face softly. "Because I knew you had meetings today and I knew how eager you would be to see me and I don't think the council would've appreciated your greeting too much. Beside it gave me a chance to relax from the trip." she finished as she caressed his check

"How are things going in the Earth Kingdom?" he asked her.

"They are going well. Hopefully I won't have to go back over there much more expect to check up on things a few more times. I have assigned some one to watch over things and let me know if there are any problems." she told him.

He nodded, "That's good. You were gone too long this time." he said as turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand.

She slowly pulled her hand away "Yes well now that I hopefully won't and to travel so much to the Earth Kingdom I can spend more time with you." she laughed softly, "but I am going to need find something else to do while I am here…I found myself starting to get a little _bored_ today…" she told him with a small smirk.

He looked at her in surprise and then his eyes narrowed in a glare. He growled at her menacingly as he leaned forward to meet her gaze.

She chuckled as she meet his glare bravely, "Did anyone ever tell you how cute you can be when your angry, Zuko?"

"Katara…." he growled her name in warning as his eyes flashed fire.

She laughed again and quickly leaned forward and give him a quick kiss on his lips, which succeed in surprising him. "Zuko, I am completely capable of entertaining myself besides I do still have a job to do while I am here." she told him gently.

"And that would be…?" he asked her with a small tinge of anger still in his voice.

"You mean besides irritating you?" she asked him in return with a giggle and glint of mischievousness in her eyes.

He shot her an irritated glare, which just caused her to laugh harder. He glared at her for a moment and then slowly a smile started to return to his face. Then he sighed as he reached his hand over to grasp hers. "I really did miss you." he told her softly.

She leaned forward again and gently kissed him on his scarred cheek. "I missed you too. More than I thought possible."

He sighed leaning into her kiss and then pulled her into his arms.

"How was you day?" she asked as she settled into the crook of his arms.

He groaned, "Is it bad to say that I am looking forward to having you back in the meetings with me?" she chuckled in response. " I'm serious" he continued, " those old men drive me crazy."

"Their not all old men, Zuko." she told him with a smile.

He rolled his eyes, "They might as well be."

"I don't know from the reports I've been getting you have made a lot of progress and seemed to have gotten them out of the habit of wanting to do things just for the sake of tradition." she told him trying to cheer him up.

"I guess so but most of that was your doing" he said moodily as he reached up to rub at his hair that was pulled taut by his topknot.

Noticing the small movement, Katara turned in his arms and raised up on her knees. Quietly she reached out and carefully undid his headpiece and then his topknot. When she had freed his hair she ran her fingers through it relishing the feel of it. He leaned forward and kissed the soft spot of her neck causing her giggle and duck away from him. She didn't make it far since he was holding onto her waist and he took advantage of that fact by nipping at her bare shoulder causing her to squeal. She squirmed in his arms, slapping playfully at his arms. He laughed and pulled her into a tighter hug with one arm and moved his other hand to gently grab her chin. He pulled her chin down to his head and kissed her until she stopped squirming. He continued kissing her until she draped her arms around his neck and sighed into his kiss.

He reluctantly pulled away and leaned his head back to look into her face, that was wearing a silly satisfied grin. He gave her smile in return, "Thanks." he told her, shaking his head enjoying the feeling of the freedom of his hair out of its constraints.

She chuckled to herself at the sight of his hair in disarray and moved a hand up to tug on a silken strand of his hair. He kissed her nose lightly and relaxed his hold on her. She sat back down in front of him and leaned into his chest again.

After a few quiet moments he finally spoke. "So do you really think you won't need to go back to the Earth Kingdom anymore?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Most of the colonist that have decided to stay are doing quite well and have integrated into the Earth Kingdom ways with a few fire Nation traditions thrown in. The Fire Days Festival have gained a lot of popularity in the Earth Kingdoms. Of course they had to change the puppet shows some" she laughed quietly as she continued, "in fact the last Festival I saw they had even had a Earth Rumble competition traveling with them. But things are going well. I think given a few more years the colonies won't really be considered Fire Nation anymore. There are still a few prejudices to work out but for the most part even the colonists are considering themselves more Earth nation than Fire now. Like I said in each town I set up someone who could serve as a contact for any concerns the town had and if it is something that is not manageable with help from the earth kingdom then send a message here. So hopefully I wont need to go over much anymore. But that was why it took so long this time. Getting the right people assigned and making sure their was an acting ambassadors in each area" she explained.

"I could set someone else to do that part of the job so you don't have to travel so much if you want." Zuko told her.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Sometimes I like the travel. It reminds of those days when I was running around with Aang before the war and after but it would be nice to just stay somewhere for a while."

She felt him nod behind but he remind quiet. She stayed quiet for a few minutes more. "I saw Aang while I was over there." she told him quietly. She felt him sit up a little straighter.

"Oh?" he asked trying not to sound to eager.

"Yeah him and Toph were at the Fire Day Festival that was happening while I was there, she wanted to see the Earth Rumble. Well, it was more that she wanted her and Aang to compete. They actually did pretty well together." she told him.

"Okay and….?" he asked, starting to sound a little more impatient.

"And….?" she asked him back, "Just what do want me to tell you Zuko?" she asked turning to look back at him.

He huffed out an aggravated breath, "Did you talk to him? Tell him?" he asked trying to control his temper.

The corner of her mouth tugged up slightly. "I may have mentioned it…..why?" she asked.

He grimaced and looked off to the side. "So do I have to worry about the Avatar hunting me down this time?" he asked, half joking half serious.

She snorted, "No. He was a little surprised but he took it fairly well. Not to mention I think he might be over it somewhat."

He looked back at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think that perhaps he may have developed a bit of a crush on Toph." she told him with a amused look on her face.

"Really? Well, I guess I could see that but what about Toph?" Zuko asked.

"I think she might feel the same but I think Aang is going a little slow about it. She seemed to be a little frustrated with him." she chuckled at the memory. Then she stopped and the look on her face turned concerned. "You don't think that would have anything to do with me, do you?" she asked Zuko.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It might be." he told her softly, "But remember I was a still unsure myself as were you. I am sure that he will get over it. If not then you know Toph will let him know the hard way if he waits too long." he gave her a smile.

She smiled back at him softly, "I guess she would." she turned back away from him and leaned back against him again. "He had told me he was sorry that he missed my birthday but he wasn't ready to go back to the south pole at that time. I told him it was fine that it was really more of a family get together." She heard him make a soft noise behind him.

"I wish I could have gone with you." he whispered in her ear.

She smiled to herself, "I know Zuko but you do have a country to run, sometimes it comes first. I got to celebrate with you here. Not to mention Dad and GranGran would have harassed you about marriage issue too." she told him, rolling her eyes.

"Well, they are within their rights. I have practically taken you captive." he said.

She laughed lightly, "No, you offered me a job. We just happened to start a relationship at the same time."

"So the job is the only reason you stay here?" he asked her in mock hurt.

She elbowed him in response.

He chuckled, "What if I didn't want you to that job anymore?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked pulling away from him and turning to look at him fully.

"Well you just said you would like to stay somewhere for a while." he told her.

She gave him an unsure look, "Yeah…..?

"What if I wanted to offer you a new job in a way?" he asked, acting suspicious.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him but she didn't say anything.

"Okay look, you know I really don't care what the council thinks about my personal life but their approval is still a good thing to have. It is something I was going to do without their approval anyway but they have basically given it. And while you were gone this time they have been practically demanding it, it seems they like have you in the meetings just as much as I do." he told her. He took a deep breath and took a hold of her hands.

She gave him a confused look before it quickly turned to surprise.

"Katara I know you might think it is a little soon and I know you are unsure about it but I love you and I know that I always will. You make me a better person in every way even if you do drive me a little crazy in the process. I am willing to give you the time you need. We can have a long engagement if you want but I know that I want to marry you. " he gave her a semi worried smile. "Would you? I mean do you want to? Marry me?"

"Gee Zuko, you must have really missed me this time." she told him with a sly smile on her face.

His face turned a light shade of red, "Katara…" the tone of his voice a little hurt and frustrated.

"Oh Zuko." she said her smile turning soft as she leaned forward to kiss his lips lightly. "I'm only picking on you."

He didn't kiss her in return but continued to look at her with a concerned look.

"What would you say if I told you I don't want a long engagement?" she asked him quietly.

His face suddenly looked very hopeful. "Really?"

"Zuko, I've known since we started this that I loved you. I knew you would ask in your own time and yes even though I know you didn't care what the council thought there was some part of you that did want their approval." she told him. "I guess I am a little surprised at the timing but I'm not unhappy about it." she stopped and gave him a big smile. "Zuko, I would love to marry you."

He gave her a big smile back his golden eyes full of joy. She laughed happily at the sight and leaned forward again to kiss him. This time his lips eagerly met hers. They kissed each other until they were both gasping for breath and giggling like children.

"I guess since the council already knows we should perhaps send a message to my family." she told him still laughing in her happiness. He nodded in agreement. "I will let you know that I didn't make a big deal about us to Sokka when I saw him last. So while you don't have to worry about Aang hunting you down you might have to worry about Sokka." she told him, the laughter in her blue eyes making them sparkle.

He shook his head at her in laughter. "I'm pretty sure I can handle Sokka. I will just throw him a feast that should keep him busy until he calms down."

She laughed in agreement and then pulled his head down to hers to kiss him again. "I love you" she whispered to him as his lips collide with hers.

* * *

AN: I thought after dragging you guys around for 12 chapters a little fluff was deserved. ^_^ I hope you liked it.

I have got one more chapter planned and just so you know it is not the marriage ceremony, just thought I would inform so I don't have to battle to much disappointment when it doesn't happen. But it will have to wait until after I get back from my short trip to NYC.

Once again sorry for the delay in publishing. It was Thanksgiving last week here and that equals family madness for me before and after because half of my family does Christmas at the same time since we don't get together that often.


	14. Chapter 14

Katara brushed her hair as she stared into the ornate mirror. Her mind wandered as she went through the familiar motion. Today had been another long day, it had been an endless parade of what had become her life. Waking everyone up in the morning, meetings with the council, lessons with the children, meetings with her staff, more lessons, training, talking with visiting dignitaries and ambassadors, spending time with the children and sparing whatever remaining time she had catching Zuko alone. She sighed as she sat the brush down and leaned in closer to look at her reflection in the mirror. Her deft fingers quickly found the single silver hair that was nestled in with the mass of brown. She grimaced slightly and sighed once again trying to decide what to do about the proof of her aging. She was so focused on her decision that she didn't see the other person come into the room. She didn't notice until she felt a soft voice whisper in her ear, "It's a mark of pride - just leave it."

She dropped the offending stand and rolled her eyes, "So speaks the man who reached his 30th year and not gotten a single gray hair along the way." She meet his eyes in the reflection of the mirror.

He just smiled back at her and shrugged his shoulders, " I guess I have got some good genes in me." he told her with a chuckle. "I am sure one day I will be as gray as Uncle."

"But right now you're not." she pointed out to him, "I, on the other hand, seem to be…." her eyes dropped back to her own face as she reached a hand up as if to rub away the wrinkles that were not even visible yet. " Are you still going to love me when I am as old as Gran Gran? When I am as wrinkled and gray? When you will still be attracting noblemen's daughters and I will be old and worn out?" she murmured.

He had the audacity to laugh at her questions which caused her eyes to fly back up to his and glare at his reflection with such intensity that he was surprised it didn't melt the mirror. He leaned quickly to lay a kiss on her head before she could dodge out of the way, then turned and started to remove his outer robes.

She continued to glare angrily at his reflection as he continued his ritual of removing his garments. Slowly her anger faded as she watched him and when he finally started to remove his undershirt she adverted her eyes before it faded completely into a new emotion all together. She wanted to keep her anger until she had gotten her answers.

Zuko had been watching her from the corner of his eye while he had been undressing and he knew exactly the moment when her anger turned into want. He had also seen her avert her eyes from his form knowing full well what he was trying to do. He smirked to himself and he pulled his undershirt over his head, threw it in the pile with the rest of his clothes and began to quietly stalk back over where she sat on her pedestal.

He reached his hands up to caress her arms that were bared in her nightshift. He felt her stiffen from his touch and attempt to pull away. He gently clasped a hold of her upper arms and leaned down to nuzzle her neck causing her to gasp and lean her head into his to block his action. He chuckled again and reached his hands down to grasp her around the waist and pulled her up off the stool. She let out a startled, "Zuko!" which he ignored as he picked her up and carried her squirming body over to the bed. He turned her in his arms and sat her down gently on the side of the bed. "Katara…" he began but she quickly turned her head not want to look at him or his naked chest. He knelt down in front of her so that he was now below her but could see her face better.

"Katara…" he said again, "I seem to recall that Pakku still found your Gran Gran appealing. Appealing enough to give up his life in the north pole and live out his remaining days with her in the south. So I am fairly sure that you will still be as beautiful to me when you are as old and gray as your grandmother was." he finished with a quiet chuckle in his tone. She just huffed in response.

He rolled his eyes, "Katara, seriously, we have been over this time and time again. I won't leave you just because you are getting a gray hair or two or even a whole head full. You are my wife, my love, the mother of my children and the other half of me. Who else would I ever be able to find that would complete me as well as you do? Not to mention I am pretty sure you would kill me if I even tried, hmm…" he raised his eyebrow at her as he finished.

She finally turned her face to look back at him and gave him a small smile. " I know" she whispered quietly, "it's just sometimes I start to wonder. I mean it has been 10 years and we have been through so much together and some of it has not been easy at all. There have been times that I have wondered why either one of us even bothers and others that have I been tempted to call it quits. " she confessed to him.

He nodded, "Yes it has been hard at times but I think that it has made us stronger. And I know that my love for you as only increased because of it. Are you telling me that yours hasn't" he looked at her questioningly.

She shook her head vigorously, "Oh no, of course not. If anything I am even more attracted to you and more in love but it doesn't stop me from worrying at times… it's just that I keep getting older and you… well I know you are too, but you're a guy. It isn't really the same. I mean look at Iroh, he is still a notorious flirt and you know how old he is getting."

Zuko grimaced in slight disgust at the thought of his Uncle's flirting. "Yes, but he has always been like that. I on the other hand have never been a flirty person, you have always been quick to tell me how blunt I am, remember." He gave he a pointed look, "Besides, Uncle has never really loved anyone else the way he loved my Aunt."

"I guess so but what if that is because she died when she was still young and he never got the chance to fall out of love with her or grow to hate her? Or get old?" she asked him her face drawn tight with concern. " I mean I'm not the young girl I was when you meet me or even the young woman I was when you married me. I've had two children and I'm getting gray hair and I'm just going to keep getting older…." she finished running out of breath, her tone having reached a point of desperation and tears forming in her eyes.

He stood up quickly, sat down next to her and pulled her head into his chest. He ran his hand through her hair while she caught her breath. "Katara…I can't say for sure that we will always love each other the way we do know but I certainly hope so. I couldn't imagine not loving you. I love what you have become. I love you more because you are the mother of our children. And I love your gray hair." He smiled at her when she raised her head to look at him unbelieving. "Like I said it is a mark of pride, you've earned it. You're a great mother, a wonderful wife, the best adviser and partner that a Fire Lord could ask for." he told her.

She stared at him for a moment and then hugged him fiercely. "I love you too Zuko." she said huskily. She pulled away and averted her eyes briefly before looking back at him. "I'm sorry I got all upset I guess it's just been a long day and with my birthday coming everything just got to me." she sighed and leaned back into him.

"I know." he said as he leaned his head on hers. "I do think that you do push yourself a little to hard at times.

She smiled, "I know I am working too hard I just enjoy seeing the kids as much as possible but it is still a lot of work even just being your wife. The wife of the Fire Lord is a very important job you know." she told him with a serious look.

He sighed, "Yes, yes I know. You know I want you to do what you want but I don't like you pushing yourself too hard." he told her.

She cuddled into him closer as he leaned back against the headboard. "I know… but unfortunately that is part of the job, Zuko. I guess the kids could start doing more lessons with someone else they are getting to that age and your heir is really start to push the limits with me." she raised an eyebrow at him, thinking of their gray eyed daughter.

He shrugged, "What can I say she takes after her mother." he stated and then laughed when she lightly slapped him.

"I don't remember me being so moody and stubborn." she told him.

He laughed harder, "How fickle your memory is my love." he told her with a kiss on her nose.

She huffed at him but continued to snuggle into him. "Not at seven I wasn't! Perhaps I bet she gets quite a bit of her moodiness from her father, she did take her bending from you." she retorted back once she was settled.

"Oh, well then how do you explain your son?" he asked with a chuckle.

"What about my son?" she sat up and asked him.

He rolled his eyes, "You mean you haven't noticed his strange sense of humor, I think that my impressionable four year old has been spending too much time with his Uncle and cousins. I think perhaps I should forbid any further vacations to the South pole or Kyoshi." he told her teasingly.

She laughed at the thought of their blue eyed son with his strangely Sokka like sense of humor. "Well, Sokka always did take after Dad in that manner so maybe that is where he got it from."

"But he got his bending from his mother." he said while leaning down and nuzzled her neck, causing her to giggle. "What would you say if we were to add another?" he whispered into her ear trying to be seductive.

She laughed and leaned into his nuzzling, "I guess I could go for that." she told him back with a smile, her hands caressing his chest.

"Always good to hear." he murmured against her cheek as he began to kiss his way to her lips. He felt her smile against his lips and sigh with pleasure and he slowly started to undo the buttons in the front of her nightshift.

She pulled away ever so slightly and looked him in the eye, "And just so you know if you were to ever leave me, it would be Toph that would kill you - not me." she told him with a small smirk.

He rolled his eyes and leaned his head back against the headboard in defeat "Agni save me for the Toph and her horde of flying, rock-throwing spawn. They are bad enough when they come for a visit"

She laughed and pulled him to her in tight embrace. "You need to kiss me my Fire Lord" she demanded of him huskily.

"Whatever you wish, my Lady." he told her and then he dipped his head and kissed her deeply.

Suffice to say the Fire Lord and his Lady lived as happily as life did allow. There were ups and downs, fights and reconciling. Screaming and shouting could be heard all over the palace on a few days, with the servants ducking around corners and shaking their heads in slight amusement. On others, the servants would whisper to one another to not disturb the royal couple and take it upon themselves to entertain their children for a few hours, which was a much coveted job. On most days there was giggling and laughing as the couple chased each other or their children around the palace playfully. The days of Zuko's reign were strict but filled with much honor and respect and with the help of his Waterbender wife the Fire Nation once again become a proud Nation. Bringing not only a new era of peace and love but one of understanding and compassion.

* * *

AN: That is the end my dear readers, and since it is christmas eve here it is my christmas present to you. I purposefully left names and other descriptions of the children out so that each reader could use their imagination to think of what they would like best. I tried to leave the ending with a happily ever after but with a more realistic twist of how life really is. I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much I have writing it.

In part I have dedicated this little story to my own Zuko, my husband whom I have been married to for 5 yrs but with him for 10. He, btw, is wanting to work on a Sokka/Yue story that will still be based off cannon. So I do hope you will keep your eyes open for that.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season in whatever manner you celebrate. :)


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